DepEd stresses need to stop gambling syndicates in schools

An undersecretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) stressed yesterday the need for law enforcers to find and arrest the members of syndicates behind the high stakes gambling in many private schools in Metro Manila, especially that the Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season is about to begin.

"I won’t be surprised if many would bet on the results of the La Salle-Ateneo game on Sunday. With the UAAP starting and school in full swing, opportunities for gambling are created. The police should find the culprits and shut down their operations sooner rather than later, " DepEd Undersecretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs, Chito Gascon, said in a forum in Makati City.

But Gascon admitted that the police authorities are up against nameless and faceless criminals and victims are reluctant to cooperate for fear of their lives.

At the forum, De La Salle University (DLSU) associate professor, Dr. Barbie Wong-Fernandez, said the sports wagering system "is not a simple organization but a well-entrenched sophisticated system involving a complex network."

Teresita Ang See, president of the Citizens’ Action Against Crime-Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order (CAAC-MRPO), said some students claimed that there were bookies who claimed to be government employees and even policemen.

"These are just what the students say but we don’t know if the information is true or not," Ang See said.

The forum’s speakers stressed the need for the monitoring and coordination among parents, school authorities, and government agencies to solve the problem.

But a STAR source said that unfortunately, there are times when the parents themselves are part of the problem.

According to the source, some high school students receive allowances as much as P15,000 a week from their parents.

"The kids don’t know what to do with their money," the source said.

One young high school placed a student was also allowed by her parents to buy an expensive van using the money she won from her wager, the source said.

"Last year, a whole section in an exclusive boys’ school bet and the lowest wager by a student was P5,000. This was for an NBA (National Basketball Association) finals game," the source said.

The source added that some syndicates are "starting the victims young" with students in the second grade placing P30 bets.

"There is a need for a widespread information campaign against sports wagering," Gascon said.

He also said sports wagering is a "social and cultural issue that poses a question of values."

"There should alternative activities for the youth," he said.

Ang See warned that sports wagering addiction could cross over to prostitution and drug dealing just to sustain the children’s vice.

Fernandez, who has done an initial study on sports wagering addiction, said some behavioral indicators of victims are unusual expenditures, loss of money or equipment at home or school, sudden drop-out at school, altered sleeping and eating habits, getting calls and messages from "new friends," depression, anxiety, and nervousness.