Brig. Gen. Jack Wanky, regional police director of Police Regional Office-6, ordered all city and provincial police directors in Western Visayas to wipe out all illegal gambling operations including bookies.
Wanky also ordered the formation of a task group focused on the campaign against illegal gambling, noting that small-town lottery operators have been complaining about it.
Four illegal Small Town Lottery (STL) bookies have been recently arrested in the cities of Victorias, Escalante, Sagay, and Candoni, Negros Occidental, which resulted in the confiscation of P3,958 in cash bets and tally sheets.
Bookies is an illegal numbers game that use winning numbers from STL draws of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
When Wanky assumed office, he was informed by his predecessor about the widespread issue of illegal gambling, despite the presence of government-sanctioned STL operations.
The bookies collectors were reported to be part of a syndicate that operates the illegal numbers game in Negros Occidental, using an STL.
Eight other suspects involved in illegal gambling operations were also arrested by the police in La Castellana, Calatrava, Himamaylan City, Bago City, and La Carlota, and P1,146 in illegal gambling bets were recovered, according to the report of the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office.
Police chiefs were also reminded to ensure that charges have been filed against the arrested illegal gambling violators.
Wanky earlier admitted that individuals suspected of having links to illegal gambling, whom he acknowledged that some of them were even his friends, sought a meeting with him.
But Wanky stressed that they will not receive any special treatment, as he asserted a zero-tolerance policy on illegal gambling in the region.*