Bet collectors’ arrest won’t satisfy mayor in war on ‘Last Two’

DIGOS CITY—Police here announced the arrest of two suspects in connection with a campaign to end illegal gambling operations in an effort that the city mayor said fell short of his expectation.

The two suspects, one of them a minor, were arrested after they were caught in the act of collecting bets for Last Two, an illegal numbers racket here that bases its results on the last two digits of winning numbers from the government-run Lotto.

Last Two is popular in Mindanao and winners can take home up to P750 for a P10 winning bet.

Mayor Joseph Peñas was obviously not impressed by the police effort, saying the arrest of suspected bet collectors Alvin Espino and the 16-year-old was insignificant compared to the extent of operations of illegal gambling syndicates.

Supt. Solomon de Castilla, city police director, said the two suspected bet collectors, or ushers as they are known here, were arrested on Sunday.

He said none of the bettors had been arrested because they fled when they saw the police coming.

The two suspects, De Castilla said, yielded gambling paraphernalia such as bet collection sheets. Charges had been filed against the two, said the police chief.

Mayor Peñas, however, said police have to arrest major players in the illegal gambling network to convince him.

Last month, the city council passed a resolution ordering police to dismantle betting stations in areas in the city that included buildings near churches and schools.

“We need to arrest somebody who is big, a financier,” Peñas said.

De Castilla said police have identified suspected financiers of Last Two but arresting them was a different thing. Orlando B. Dinoy, Inquirer Mindanao