‘Two prominent persons
are gambling financiers'
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Two prominent personalities, believed to be the financiers of illegal gambling operations in Negros Occidental, are on the police watch list, Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, Negros Occidental police director, said yesterday.

However, de la Paz said he could not reveal their names as they are still building cases against them.

“When we have sufficient evidence to file cases, we can reveal the names of these ‘big fish' who continue to defy the order to stop illegal gambling operations,” he added.

Alert up for drugs
as classes start
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The police is keeping a close watch on the entry of illegal drugs into Negros Occidental with an expected increase of supply with the opening of classes, Senior Supt. Ricardo de la Paz, provincial police director, said yesterday.

The police is implementing Oplan Balik Eskwela where police visibility will be increased Monday when classes open.

Police patrols, plainclothes personnel and force multipliers will be deployed in public and private schools, and police assistance desks will be set up, he added.

Court ok's release
of Peña guns
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Bacolod Regional Trial Court Judge Fernando Elumba yesterday granted a Writ of Replevin for the police to release firearms seized from the ancestral house of Pulupandan mayor-elect Miguel Antonio Consing Peña to the sheriff.

Peña Monday filed a civil case before the RTC of Negros Occidental in Bacolod City against police officials to recover the P2 million worth of licensed firearms and ammunition seized from his ancestral house in Barangay Ubay, Pulupandan on May 2.

As of press time yesterday, some of the firearms had been released by the PNP Crime Laboratory and Scene of the Crime Office of Negros Occidental, headed by Chief Inspector Ramonit Javier, to the sheriff, a DAILY STAR source said.