MANILA, Philippines — No less than Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Archie Gamboa provided regional units of the police force names of illegal gambling operators tipped off by his sources.
“I have given the regional directors all the names that were forwarded to me by different sources, and if you (regional directors) don’t do anything about it, you’ll be answerable for inaction,” Gamboa said in an interview with reporters on Wednesday.
“In the next few months, heads will roll if you don’t follow my instructions… and you are not doing anything to stop illegal gambling,” he also said.
Gamboa reiterated his warning to police officers not to take bribes from operators of illegal gambling, and also called on police chiefs to launch an aggressive crackdown in order to convince him that they are not receiving cash from gambling lords.
“Because if you don’t do aggressive operations and you don’t start relieving your chiefs of police then I will not be convinced that you are doing something about it,” he said.
The PNP chief pointed out that if illegal gambling thrives in an area, it would be “natural” that police are protecting its operators. He likewise warned operators of illegal gambling to stop their activities or be penalized.
To identify police officers protecting gambling lords, Gamboa said the PNP will strengthen the intelligence operations of the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group that hunts scalawag officers. / EDV