Officials from the Philippine National Police (PNP) are prepared to meet with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) to discuss how to stop illegal or unlicensed gaming operations from conducting business within the country.
Brigadier General Nicerio D. Obaob, regional director of Police Regional Office-Mimaropa, has made it clear to provincial directors and other unit commanders that he will remove them from their duties unless they are clamping down on illegal gambling. This is part of a nationwide campaign against all forms of criminal activity, particularly illegal gambling.
“I have strict instruction to all my commanders to heed the call of the Chief PNP to observe the ‘no-take policy’ and I encourage the community to help us in this drive-by reporting any gambling activities because we can never be anywhere all the time,” the regional director explained during a recent conference call.
PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa explained that the meeting with official members of the PAGCOR and with the Games and Amusement Board (GAB) will help determine which organizations are operating either illegally or exploiting their current license as part of a bigger criminal enterprise.
The three groups are expected to coordinate the protocols and agreements that will be followed by police when investigating and closing illegal gambling operations. “We will be issuing specific guidelines on all of these gambling things,” the chief stated.
Failure to shut down these operations has become a big concern of the PNP. Several police commanders in the Metro Manila area have been fired for failure to curb illegal gambling. The National Capital Region Police Office has also issued an order prohibiting all forms of gambling during wakes and fiesta celebrations.
Legal gambling in the Philippines has greatly increased in the last few years and has become a lucrative way for the country to earn additional tax revenue.
The new crackdown will attempt to shut down illegal gambling businesses, and appears to have the full weight of law enforcement officials behind it. But time will tell if the renewed emphasis has any lasting effect.
