Atienza orders new tack on video karera

No more burning or smashing ceremonies of confiscated video karera machines in Manila.

Following Manila Mayor Lito Atienza’s orders, police destroyed five video karera machines on the spot after seizing them from several houses in Tondo yesterday.

Superintendent Gil de Castro of the Abad Santos police station personally led his men raiding houses suspected of maintaining the illegal gambling machines.

Five video karera machines were confiscated and destroyed on the spot near corner Juan Luna, Pilar and Serrano streets in Tondo.

De Castro said the machines were owned by Anthony Sy, Benny Go and Boboy Go. The raiding team failed to arrest them. The house owners operating the machines got a percentage of the earnings, De Castro said.

"We will continue to monitor operators of gambling machines. There will be no let-up in our search and destroy operation," De Castro vowed, adding that Atienza’s order for the destruction of the machines on the spot will hit video karera operators hard.

In a recent meeting with the 11 station commanders of the Western Police District (WPD), Atienza gave the order to immediately destroy, on the spot, all confiscated video karera machines following more complaints of school children addicted to the gambling machines.

The old practice of confiscating and storing the machines at police stations led to corruption since operators could bribe the police to release them.

"But with the mayor’s search and destroy order, every seized machine will end up as junk," De Castro commented. – Nestor Etolle