Guimaras gambling goes high-tech

ILOILO CITY, Philippines  — Before, a bet collector, locally known as manugpataya, would get the numbers and the payment of bet from a bettor, then remit the amount to the station that operates the illegal numbers game.

Now, gambling is done quite differently in Guimaras province. No more cotejos are needed in placing a bet. Instead, a gadget common to almost 95 percent of Filipinos, is used: The mobile phone.

Senior Supt. Juanita Nebran, Guimaras Police director, confirmed to The FREEMAN that betting is now done through short messaging system (SMS) or text message.

This findings came out as a result of the evaluation the police did following the almost zero record posted against illegal gambling in the province.

The small town lottery (STL) however is illegal in Guimaras, thus the winning numbers are based on the STL draw in Iloilo City, where the game is officially permitted.

“A bettor would place his or her bet by sending a text message and a collector just received the payment later,” Nebran said.

Nebran said the betting, the paying for the bet and the winning are a matter of trust. “The operator would place his trust that the bettor would pay his bet while the bettor would trust that, in case, he wins, the money would be given to him,” said the police official.

This scheme made it hard for policemen to arrest the bet collector or the bettor. “We have no proof that illegal gambling exists. Walang cotejo, walang ballpen. Kapag may inabot na pera, baka sabihin lang nila na pambayad sa utang,” she said.

Nebran said her policemen also could not take chances by arresting a suspect in the absence of sufficient evidences. “In the end, our policemen would be the ones answering charges in court,” she said.

Despite this reality, Nebran clarified that illegal gambling is not rampant in Guimaras. “May mga tumataya na iilan but we could not say that it’s widespread,” she said, adding that there are no bookies for illegal gambling in the area. (FREEMAN)