Drive against illegal gambling: Machines, gamblers fall in Ermita raid

Over a hundred policemen stormed all nooks and crannies of two sitios in barangay Ermita at dawn yesterday in an effort to flush out all illegal gambling operations.

The massive effort initiated by the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Branch (CIIB) headed by Supt. Pablo Labra II netted a total of 35 machines used for illegal gambling specifically video karera and moli-moli.

Eleven people including three minors were arrested in the saturation drive. They were all caught in the act of using the betting machines. Unfortunately, none of the people believed to be running the illegal operations was snared.

The police acted on a report that there were still about 20 illegal gambling machines operating in the barangay. With the help of barangay captain Felicisimo 'Imok' Rupinta and his tanods, the police swooped down on all the houses in sitios Bato and Centro.

There were 14 video karera machines and 14 other moli-moli machines that were seized from abandoned shanties.

The police however got lucky in other shanties as they found nine people playing on betting machines. Among those arrested were a pair of 16-year-old boys and a 15-year-old boy.

The adults who were arrested were identified as Cresencio Catalan, Ronald de Egurrola, Luisito Lucido, Renante Alegarbes, Rolando Dy, and Sulpicio Unabia, police recovered from them a total of P420 in coins and the six moli-moli gambling machines.

The six will be indicted for violation of Presidential Decree 1602 or illegal gambling, while the minors were turned-over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The two other arrests were not related to illegal gambling but to illegal drugs and robbery.

The CIIB conducted a search against two brothers suspected to be drug pushers in the area that resulted to the arrest of one.

Armed with the search warrant issued by RTC Branch 9 Judge Geraldine Faith Econg, the police arrested Romeo Mansueto after the raiding team found one big pack of suspected shabu, one medium size and a small pack both with suspect shabu from his house.

Mansueto's brother, Ruben, who is also included in the search warrant, was not around during the raid.

Another house in sitio Ermita Beach of the said barangay owned by a suspected drug pusher, Pacita Tude a.k.a. Bebot, was raided and resulted to the confiscation of one big plastic pack containing suspected shabu, four more medium size packs all containing suspected shabu and drug paraphernalia. However, police failed to arrest Tude, who they believed was given information about the operation. Tude is the mother of Ermita SK chairman Carlo Magno Tude, who was arrested last month by CIIB during a buy-bust operation.

According to Labra, Tude is a level-two drug pusher and has been in the drug watchlist of the city police. A level-two drug pusher could dispose 200 grams of shabu to one kilo per week police said. The Vice Control Section-Drug Enforcement Unit led by Sr. Inspector George Ylanan also raided the house of a suspected local contact of robbery groups from Mindanao, who lives in the said barangay.

Municipal Trial Court and Cities branch 3 Judge Gil Acosta issued a search warrant for violation of Republic Act 8294 or illegal possession of firearms against Jerry Rosal a.k.a. Kulot.

According to Labra, Rosal is a former comrade of the late Joel Nodalo a.k.a. Tongol. After Nodalo's death, Labra told reporters that Rosal became the local contact of suspected Ozamis City robbery groups here in the city.

Based on the information police obtained, Rosal owned an M-16 Armalite rifle and two 9 mm pistols. But during the raid, the police were only able to seize one homemade .38 cal. caliber revolver with three live bullets.

Rosal told Labra that the M-16 was already sold and the two pistols perished during a fire months ago.

Last month, police received information about the arrival of a Mindanao based robbery group reportedly led by Jun Halap, former companions of the convicted bank robber Rey Torres. The saturation drive such as this will continue to ensure security in the city until the ASEAN Summit, police officials said.

Also taking part in the raid were operatives from the Crime Suppression Unit, SWAT, and Field Training Policemen.

When Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña was informed about the drive, he warned Rupinta that if ever he will again find out that the illegal gambling operations will resume he will cut political ties with the barangay captain. "I'm just going to give him a warning that he should be accountable for any re-emergence of video karera in his barangay," Osmeña said. He added that it is hard to believe that the barangay captain does not know what is happening in his jurisdiction.

"I believe its very hard for video karera to prosper without bribing barangay officials...maybe you can get away with one machine here and there, but 30? You won't be friends with the mayor anymore. That would be a very painful sanction," Osmeña said.

Rupinta welcomed the warning of the mayor saying that he has always been coordinating with authorities to eradicate illegal gambling in his barangay. "Tinuod nga maglisod ta pagbadlong ilabi na ang mga gambling lords grabi mohatag ug porsiento tag 30 percent ngadto sa mga caretaker pero kita diri ato gyud gipaningkamotan nga mawagtang na sila sa atong barangay" Rupinta said.

"Daghang mga pamilya ani nagbuwag kay ang ilag mga bana nabuang sa sugal unya ang kaluha ani mao man and shabu" Rupinta said. Rupinta also assured the public that he has not been receiving protection money from the video karera operators.-with Ramil V. Ayuman and Joeberth Ocao/NLQ