57 Ilocos cops sacked over illegal gambling

CAMP GEN. OSCAR FLORENDO, La Union — Fifty-seven police officers across the Ilocos region have been relieved from their posts as a result of the "revitalized" campaign of the regional police command headed by Chief Superintendent Alfredo de Vera Jr. against all forms of illegal gambling, particularly jueteng.

The STAR gathered that of the 57, 25 were municipal police chiefs — two each in Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte, 11 in La Union, and 10 in Pangasinan.

Also relieved was the director of the Ilocos Sur provincial mobile group.

Superintendent Wilson Joseph Lopez, information head of the regional police, said the relief of the 57 police officers was part of their "revitalized" campaign against illegal gambling, and not directly due to reports of jueteng’s resumption in the Ilocos region. 

"They were relieved based on the directive of (Chief Superintendent De Vera). This is also part of strengthening our campaign against illegal gambling and criminality in our area," he said.

Lopez said De Vera has issued a stern warning to all police units on the "one-strike policy" of Philippine National Police chief Director General Arturo Lomibao.

He said the names of the relieved police officers are being withheld pending the release of formal communications from De Vera, who will conduct surprise inspections across the region.

For their part, top officials of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) tasked to go after jueteng operators in the Ilocos region vowed no let-up in their efforts "no matter who gets hurt."

Superintendent Federico Castro Jr., CIDG regional officer, said their initial operations in Pangasinan have resulted in the filing of cases for violation of Republic Act 1602, as amended by RA 9287, against five suspected jueteng bet collectors in San Jacinto town.

The CIDG has turned over to the San Jacinto police the five suspects who allegedly worked for both jueteng and the government-sanctioned EZ2 through the so-called bookies system.

Castro said their raid in Barangay Talogtog, Laoac town based on information provided by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz resulted in the arrest of 15 people.

Castro said they will continue monitoring reports of jueteng’s resurgence across the region and act on them accordingly. — With Eva Visperas