Police urged: Intensify drive vs. video karera

CEBU – Cebu City acting vice mayor Hilario Davide III has instructed the police to intensify the campaign against all forms of illegal gambling activities in the city, particularly the operation of video karera machines.

During the meeting of the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council last Friday, Davide told Cebu City police director Patrocinio Comendador to submit a weekly report of their accomplishment in the campaign against video karera and masiao operations.

He observed that the police are not active in the campaign against the illegal gambling because they only seized one gambling machine last week despite the alleged rampant operations of video karera in some of the city’s barangays.

Davide also learned that while the police have confiscated six video karera machines the other week, the raid was only made after a news reporter raised his concern about the illegal gambling operations in barangay Kamagayan that lead to the seizure of the machines.

There were suggestions to organize a special task force whose members will only concentrate in the campaign against video karera, which are very rampant in barangays Ermita, Pasil, Suba, Kamagayan, Dulho-Fatima, Labangon, Basak-San Nicolas, Pardo and Inayawan.

“Ang mga police lang sa lainlaing police stations maoy atong tahasan paghimo og hugtanay’ng kampanya, unya ato lang i-monitor kon milihok ba sila,” Davide said.

The FREEMAN has received several reports about the video karera operations, not only in Cebu City but also in the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Naga.

In Naga City, an informer said he believes illegal gambling activities are being tolerated by the local police. Video karera operation is also allegedly very rampant in Lapu-Lapu City especially in barangay Basak.

Reports said masiao or illegal numbers game, whose winning combinations are just products of imagination by the syndicate behind it, is also allegedly proliferating throughout the province but the police are doing very little against it. — Rene U. Borromeo/WAB (THE FREEMAN)