THE Cagayan de Oro City’s task force against illegal gambling is fast taking shape with Mayor Oscar Moreno set to sign the executive order creating the task force later this week.
“From day one, I have always been against illegal gambling as I was against drugs and other illegal activities,” Moreno, who was out of the country when the City Council drafted the resolution recommending the creation of the anti-illegal gambling task force, said.
Moreno said the success of the anti-illegal gambling campaign would hinge on two factors which are community support and effective law enforcement.
“Ang importante in this campaign is ang community and police. I think karon panahona, naa nay momentum ang police to curb illegal activities, dili lang drugs but gambling too,” Moreno said.
But Moreno said it is important for the police to have a certain level of focus, saying that stamping out the scourge of illegal drugs and illegal gambling at the same time may be too much for the police.
"Okay man ko sa gambling pero focus lang sa unta kita sa drugs kay ang tendency maglisod ka pagfocus," Moreno added.
Moreno said it is every local official's challenge to get the police to support your agenda, admitting that in his first term, his relationship with the city police force didn't quite go well citing his administration's limited budget for law enforcement.
Moreno expressed reservations on President Rodrigo Duterte's name-and-shame campaign targeting suspected drug personalities.
"Kanang naming, lisod kaayo manghilabot ka diha, no one would be happy nga ma include imong name sa listahan. It's not easy, kay ang resulta diha you might be unnecessarily convicting people and it's not fair," Moreno said, reacting to questions if the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office ever had to give him list of names involved in illegal drug activities.
"Although I'm not against that. Pero ang point nako kung manganlan ka, you could be open for criminal investigation, ayaw ng ingana. Ang Presidente pwede niya mahimo kay naa man siyay immunity pero other than the president, dili gayud dapat. You'll be committing a crime. You might be ruining names there," Moreno added.
Astrid Bana, president of Misamis Oriental-Cagayan de Oro Lotto Agents Association, Inc. (MOCLAAI), said he hopes that the executive order will be signed as soon as possible since illegal lotto operators are reportedly back in business.
"This is made into an executive order because we wanted the act against illegal gambling to be swift and quick so we we hope this will be passed anytime soon," Moreno said.
The City Council approved Tuesday a resolution on the formation of an anti-illegal gambling task force which will include representatives from the Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, village chiefs, City Legal Office, City Prosecutors Office, Regulatory and Complaint Board, representatives of MOCLAAI and the media, to be part of the task force.
Moreno, however, can still add or remove members of the task force.