At least eight individuals were arrested after they were caught engaging in ‘tigbakay’ on Saturday night, July 17, in Barangay Calamba, Cebu City. | File Photo from CCPO-CIU
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police here noticed a decrease in the number of illegal gambling violators following continuous police operations.
Having an average of nearly a hundred violators from the past operations, the Cebu City Police Office recorded at least 73 apprehensions from their September 11 Simultaneous Anti-Criminality Law Enforcement Operation (SACLEO).
Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) said this drop may be because that some gamblers have already been compliant with health protocols in the city.
Overall, police conducted 38 operations is different areas in Cebu City. This includes operations against swertres, card games, cara y cruz or ‘hantak’, and illegal cockfighting or ‘tigbakay’.
CCPO conducts SACLEO every other week as they do not want to be lenient in the implementation of health protocols in the bid to fight COVID-19.
Previously, illegal cockfighting or ‘tigbakay’ was one of the major concerns of the city policemen as there were still a lot of bettors who participated in the said activity despite warnings from the police. Most violators were apprehended in the interior portions of the barangays.
But for the past few days, they have observed a drop of those engaging in ‘tigbakay’, especially on weekends.
With this development, Parilla is hoping that the public will be able to maintain this discipline as the city also saw a drop in the number of COVID-19 cases.
As of September 13, the Department of Health in Central Visayas recorded at least 60 additional COVID-19 cases in Cebu City, bringing its total active cases to 3,001. This is 25 lesser than the new cases recorded last September 12.
Should people continue to coordinate and follow what’s being implemented here, Parilla said that recovering from this pandemic will be made quicker.
/bmjo
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