| Minor, 3 others nabbed
for ‘jai-alai’ operations
Four alleged jai-alai operators, one of them a minor, were apprehended by stations 4 and 8 policemen and members of the Police Regional Special Operations Group Sunday and Monday, in barangays Pahanocoy and Villamonte, in Bacolod City.
Mark Angelo Delgado, 28, Leorence Roy Untal, 23, and their 15-year-old companion, whose name the police withheld, were arrested at Florenceville Subdivision in Brgy. Pahanocoy at about 8:30 a.m. Monday, for alleged illegal jai-alai operations, Insp. Mark Sigua, RSOG-Negros Occidental team leader, said yesterday.
Sigua and his men seized from those arrested eight bundles of tipsters with the codename “Target”, a betting stub, a black bag with undetermined content, P1,720 in bet money, a Honda XRM and a Yamaha motorcycle, police records showed.
A suspected illegal operator of jai-alai was also apprehended by Station 4 policemen at about 8:40 p.m. Sunday in Brgy. Villamonte in Bacolod.
Marilou Saldo, 54, of Marapra Street in Brgy. Villamonte, was reportedly caught while in the act of soliciting bets for jai-alai, Police Officer 1 Gilbert Alunan said in his report to the Bacolod City Police Office yesterday.
Police officers 1 Leonel Pacete and Roger Villegas seized a betting stub with number combinations, a ballpen and P30 in bet money from Saldo during her arrest.*APN
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Vice control
section dismantled
Bacolod City Police Director, Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, dismantled the Vice Control Section effective yesterday and replaced it with the Special Operations Group, for a more intensified anti-illegal gambling drive.
De la Paz designated Supt. Santiago Rapiz as the head of the SOG and he will be assisted by a junior police officer, who will be chosen this week.
VCS chief, Senior Insp. Jerick Filosopo, will be detailed to the Bacolod City Police Operations Branch as deputy of Chief Insp. Noel Polines, while members of the VCS will be assigned to different police stations, de la Paz said.
The SOG will be composed of policemen chosen by Rapiz to boost the drive against illegal gambling, especially jai-alai, he also said.
De la Paz said that, based on intelligence reports, the number of illegal jai-alai operators have been reduced to four from nine last month, which he added, is evidence that they are not lenient as far as illegal gambling operations are concerned.
He added that he has tasked the Intelligence Branch to monitor if there are Bacolod City policemen and personnel into jai-alai operations, so they can be meted appropriate penalties.
Two policemen were recently investigated for their alleged link in illegal jai-alai operations, although their names were cleared by the Investigation and Detective Management Branch, for lack of sufficient evidence.*APN
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Cops apprehend
motorist for ‘shabu’
About P35,000 worth of suspected shabu was seized yesterday from a motorcycle driver arrested by the Bacolod City Police Traffic Management Unit for not wearing a helmet at Lacson-Lizares streets, Bacolod.
Arrested was Robert de los Santos, 27, of Brgy. 39, Bacolod, TMU head, Chief Insp. Luisito Acebuche, said.
Investigation showed that, de los Santos was on his Suzuki raider motorcycle with plate number 8967FN at Lacson Street when the TMU personnel led by Acebuche flagged him down for not wearing a helmet.
Instead of stopping, de los Santos made a U-turn and tried to evade the police, but instead, hit the approaching Kia Sportage vehicle with plate number YDL 853, Acebuche said.
De los Santos ran several meters away but the TMU personnel caught up and arrested him. They also seized small plastic and big plastic sachets both containing suspected shabu from him, Acebuche also said.
He added that they also seized a tally sheet for jai alai from Delos Santos during his arrest
Police records showed that Delos Santos is also facing illegal possession of firearms charges when station 1 policemen, then also headed by Acebuche, confiscated a .38 caliber revolver from him during his arrest last year.
De los Santos denied that the suspected shabu was his but admitted that he is into jai-alai operation.
City Police Director Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz ordered the filing of charges for damage to properties, illegal possession of gambling paraphernalia, and possession of illegal drugs against de los Santos.*APN
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De la Paz favors
arming mediamen
Bacolod City Police City Police Director, Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, yesterday said that he is in favor of arming any media in the city if there are immediate threats against them.
De la Paz was reacting to suggestions that mediamen should be armed following the assassination of Iloilo-based radio blocktimer Niel Jimena Monday in EB Magalona, Negros Occidental last week, which the police theorized as job-related.
“If a mediaman, who receives threats, wants us to help them get a permit to possess firearms faster, we are willing to help them,” de la Paz said.
“We are also willing to provide security to any mediaman under threat so long that we can verify that the threats are indeed real,” de la Paz also said.
He also emphasized that there is no problem if mediamen want to arm themselves whenever they feel threatened, because there is an existing policy for permits to posses firearms outside one’s residence, as long as they are qualified.
De la Paz also directed the chiefs of police in Bacolod yesterday to be accessible to the media all the time. He also designated the police chiefs to be spokesperson of their police stations and answer queries from the media.
De la Paz said that during a media relations seminar he attended with Bacolod City Police Operations branch head, Chief Insp. Noel Polines in Cebu City, they were informed that the media plays a vital role in their anti-criminality campaign.
He said policemen should always be transparent and accessible to the media, so the people will know the actual peace and order situation in their community.*APN
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Vice control section dismantled