121 e-sabong bettors arrested in Cebu City in a week

CEBU CITY, Philippines — In just seven days, police arrested 121 e-sabong bettors from separate police operations conducted in Cebu City from Dec. 2 to 8, 2022.

Police Colonel Ireneo Dalogdog, chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said that these suspects were arrested from the 38 police operations that his men conducted within the same period, and they also confiscated P15,000 worth of bet money.

Despite these arrests, Dalogdog said that they still did not have the capacity yet to trace the individuals behind the online applications that had been used by the bettors nor the ones operating the website.

“Dili nato sila basta-basta mahunong kay app lamang ilang gamiton. Dito sa Cebu City, wala natang betting station dahil itoy na stop na nung Mayo pa…Actually naa tay Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit, nagrecommend sila nga dili lang sa PNP, kasi di kaya ng PNP, kasi pagdating sa technical, wala tayong kakayahan doon. They recommended na kung pwede magcommunicate sa telecommunication,” Dalogdog said.

(We cannot just stop them because they use an app. Here in Cebu City, we don’t have a betting station because this had been stopped since May…Actually we have the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit, they recommended that not only the PNP, because the PNP don’t have the capability to handle this, because when it comes to technical aspect, we don’t have the capability. They recommended if they can communicate to the telecommunication.)

That is why, aside from their relentless police operations, they also further encourage the bettors to stop patronizing this illegal gambling activity as this will not do any good to them.

“Pag ikaw ay nalulong sa sugal, lalong lalo na ang e-sabong, napakalaking ikadulot na masamang epekto nito lalo na sa mga may pamilya. Unang-una, pagwala nang pagsugal, pwede ka magbenta sa gamit sa bahay, magloan, at kayong mag asawa ay pwedeng mag-away,” Dalogdog said.

(If you are deep into gambling, especially e-sabong, this can really be a big negative effect to the family big time. First, if you don’t have money to bet anymore, you can sell things at home, get a loan, and there’s a chance that you and your wife or husband will fight.)

“Maapektuhan din, tataas din ang krimen dahil pagwala ka nang masugal, pwede ka mangholdup o magnakaw,” he added.

(This will also affect crimes, which can also increase because if you don’t have money to bet, you may resort to holdup somebody or to steal)

It can be recalled that former President Rodrigo Duterte directed to stop the operations of e-sabong earlier this year in the Philippines. This happened after 34 “sabongeros” went missing that until now the case remains unsolved.

Police General Rodolfo Azurin Jr., chief of the Philippine National Police, also directed the police all over the country to go after these-sabong operators and bettors since they noticed that some of those banned online cockfighting shifted to “guerilla” operations.

READ

Duterte orders to end e-sabong

PNP: Banned ‘e-sabong’ shifts to ‘guerrilla’ operations, targets OFWs

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