BALER, Aurora – Loteng, whose continuous operations reportedly led to the relief of the provincial police director last month, has gone high-tech, rendering law enforcers practically helpless in getting rid of it.
Senior Superintendent Romeo Teope, provincial police director, said their campaign against loteng has not borne fruit because cabos and cobradores (bet collectors) now use cellular phones to register bets.
As a result, he said his men have had no arrests since their all-out campaign against the illegal numbers game last month on orders of Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo.
“Since the cabos and cobradores are using cellular phones to place bets and there are no papelitos and money, our men are having a hard time arresting them because there is no evidence,” Teope told The STAR.
Based on reports, loteng – whose winning numbers are drawn from the results of lotto – continues to flourish in the central towns of San Luis, Dipaculao and Ma. Aurora and in this capital town.
The rampant loteng operations reportedly led to the sacking of former provincial police director Senior Superintendent Teodoro Saclolo although this was denied by the Region 3 police director, Chief Superintendent Errol Pan, who said Saclolo overstayed in his post and had to be replaced.
Teope said they have positively identified the bet collectors but said it’s hard to pin them down in the absence of any evidence in their actual possession like papelitos and the bets collected.
“The cell phones cannot be used as evidence since these people have already erased the names of bettors and the amount of bets before they get arrested,” he said.
Teope said he would call the attention of police station commanders in the four towns to find ways to eradicate loteng.
He said he believes that loteng would not proliferate without the knowledge and blessings of the police.
He warned that just like in jueteng, the PNP would observe the one-strike policy with regards to loteng, meaning that a police chief would be relieved from his post after a successful raid.
Angara-Castillo told The STAR she has ordered Teope to spare no one in the anti-loteng campaign, even if they were her relatives.
“There is no sacred cow in my administration. I told (Teope) that if there’s anyone who claims to be (a sacred cow), come to me directly,” she said.