Bontoc ups drive vs illegal gambling even in wakes

By Alpine L. Killa

\BONTOC, Mountain Province –Officials in this capital town rallied for the support of newly-elected barangay officials in the fight against illegal gambling in his capital town.

Senior Insp. Faith Ayan Igualdo, acting tow police chief brought issue of illegal gambling during wakes or funerals during the recent municipal peace and order council meeting here at Barangay Gonogon.

While it has been a Filipino tradition to play card or dice games during wakes, Igualdo said it is still illegal.

Under Presidential Decree 1602 issued by then President Ferdinand Marcos in July 1978, it is illegal for any person take part in any illegal or unauthorized activities or games.

These include  cockfighting, jueteng, jai alai or horse racing to include bookie operations and game fixing, numbers, bingo and other forms of lotteries;cara y cruz, pompiang and the like;7-11 and any game using dice;black jack, lucky nine, poker and its derivatives, monte, baccarat, cuajao, pangguingue and other card games;paik que, high and low, mahjong, domino and other games using plastic tiles and the likes; slot machines, roulette, pinball and other mechanical contraptions and devices;dog racing, boat racing, car racing and other forms of races, basketball, boxing, volleyball, bowling, pingpong.

Banned are also  individual or team contests to include game fixing, point shaving and other machinations; and banking or percentage game, or any other game scheme, whether upon chance or skill, wherein wagers consisting of money, articles of value or representative of value are at stake or made.

With the presence of newly elected barangay officials, Igualdo asked  their support in the fight against illegal gambling saying they are the ones who see what is happening in their communities.

She added police hot lines were given to the barangay officials for them to report to police any illegal gambling operations.

Bontoc Mayor Franklin C. Odsey who chairs the MPOC supported the pronouncement of Igualdo saying outskirt barangays of Bontoc are not exempted in the campaign against illegal gambling to include gambling during wakes.

He acknowledged with limited number of local police, they cannot patrol the 16 barangays of Bontoc considering geographical locations.

With this situation, he said barangay officials were elected by the people to be the partners of the government in the implementation of programs and laws.

Thus, they should serve as the eyes and ears of the police in their respective barangays by stopping illegal gambling activities even during wakes.

Odsey said illegal gambling in the municipality continuous to decline with intense campaign and operations being conducted by police with the cooperation of the community.