No cause for alarm: "Jueteng" here an isolated case

Councilor Augustus Pe believes the discovery of jueteng in barangay Guadalupe last week should not be a cause for alarm because intelligence reports have not revealed any other place in Cebu City where the illegal numbers game is being played.

Pe, chairman of the city's committee on dangerous drugs and member of the committee on police, fire and penology, said the four arrested Friday night with jueteng paraphernalia and P160 might just have been testing the waters here.

Pe said the barangay intelligence network is still strong and unless barangay officials and the police themselves tolerate the illegal game to prosper, it is difficult for the game to flourish in the city.

This is also because unlike masiao whose paraphernalia is easy to hide, the nature of jueteng is for the games paraphernalia such as tables and chairs to sprawl in the open, thus, easier to spot.

Likewise, Pe said the benefit of the doubt can be given to the police in barangay Guadalupe who apparently have failed to crack down the presence of jueteng in their area of jurisdiction prior to the arrest made by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group last week.

However, a second failure of the same nature can merit an investigation on the part of the police.

In a related development, Regional Police Director Eduardo Gador is not discounting the possibility that with the massive campaign against jueteng in Luzon, some operators have relocated to the outskirts like Central Visayas.

CIDG intelligence chief Rex Derilo said his office would be conducting a probe deeper into the matter. Those arrested would be charged with illegal gambling.

Arrested were house owner Rosario Mondares, Rafael Almario, 82, of Kamagong Lahug, Andy Umali, 45, of Guadalupe, and Antonio Dijana of barangay Zapatera. Mondares claimed it was only last Friday that she met a certain "Angheling" and a certain Cesar who asked to rent a place in her house for P50 per night.

Other items recovered were 15 pieces of tally sheets with different number combinations, eight pieces of empty stubs, two calculators, an empty bottle wrapped in masking tape, a stamp pad, an ink bottle, two sets of rubber stamps with numbers and 10 ballpens.