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Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Tomas to take back bry. chief’s gun
A barangay captain will lose his gun, San Nicolas policemen their City Hall allowance, and for caretakers of video carrera machines in Barangay Pasil, possibly their homes.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday ordered that the handgun the City issued to Pasil Barangay Captain Romeo Ocarol be withdrawn from him, following the seizure of 35 video carrera and moli-moli machines yesterday morning.
Ocarol failed to stop the proliferation of illegal gambling machines in his barangay, hence the punishment. The mayor warned other barangay officials to do their homework—else, they too will be punished.
Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Bureau (CIIB) policemen led by Supt. Paul Labra confiscated the machines that were reportedly stationed in plain view of the public in Sitio Lawis, Pasil, around 10 a.m. yesterday.
Allowance
The mayor also decided to withdraw the allowance of each of the San Nicolas policemen for failing to discover and confiscate the gambling machines.
In a press conference yesterday, the mayor reiterated his threat that the houses of caretakers will be demolished for harboring such machines.
Councilor Augustus Pe Jr., chairman of the council committee, said the houses will be demolished because these do not have building permits.
He admitted there is a resurgence of video carrera and moli-moli machines in a few City barangays, just months after most of the 80 barangays were declared video carrera-free following a 100-day ultimatum Osmeña gave in September 2004.
The gravity of the problem, however, is unlike when video carrera and moli-moli infested the City prior to the 2004 order of the mayor.
The 35 machines contained coins worth P40,000 that Pe turned over to the Cebu City Task Force on Street Children and a partner non-government organization, the Children of Cebu Foundation.
Also taken were the gambling machines’ central processing units, and “money hoppers”—the part that sorts out coins and reward winners.
The operation was a result of a tip Pe received from a citizen who provided the sketches of the location of 40 units.
Pe said caretakers of five units apparently managed to hide them because they were no longer in the location specified by the tipster.
Pasil is under the jurisdiction of Station 6, but the policemen there apparently failed to do their job against video carrera and moli-moli.
Pe said yesterday morning’s operation was the “biggest one-time confiscation” this year. Last Feb. 26, Pe’s office destroyed several illegal gambling machines.
He also asked the court yesterday to allow him to destroy 85 more, which already include the 35 units seized in Pasil.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 5, 2006 issue)
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