THE Police Regional Office in Davao Region PRO 11) warned its personnel that if they enter casinos or get involved in illegal gambling, they will be dismissed from the service.
This developed after the arrest of Superintendent Adrian Antonio, who was caught gambling in one of the casinos in Parañaque City. Antonio was assigned at the Philippine National Police (PNP) directorate for operations at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame.
PNP chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa has been reminding his policemen that they are barred from casinos. If found violating such order, they may face an administrative charge of grave misconduct which may lead to dismissal from the police service.
“Yan ang thrust and program ng ating chief PNP Police Director General Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa with regards to the internal cleansing at isa sa mga programs niya, naglagay siya ng mga paskil sa mga casinos na bawal ang mga government employees and even mga police doon sa loob ng casino,” PRO 11 spokesperson Chief Inspector Milgrace Driz said.
Thus, with this strong directive, she said cops must adhere to this to avoid facing consequences. The incident also served as a reminder for the cops to follow the rules otherwise, get themselves behind bars.
“(It’s a) lesson learned sa lahat ng mga officers, mga police even government employees. Bawal po tayo na pumasok sa mga casino maglaro sa casino even sa pagtaya lang,” she said.
Driz added, “Since law enforcers tayo, then we have to enforce the law. At the same time (kahit) mga police, nonetheless, we will follow the law.”
She also emphasized that this is an isolated case and it’s the officers’ personal choice. This does not mirror the whole PNP organization.