Manila — The police chiefs of three municipalities in Negros Oriental have been sacked for failing to stop the proliferation of the illegal numbers game “swertres” in their areas, Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo said yesterday.
Relieved were Chief Insp. Dominicias Distrito, chief of police of Tanjay City; Insp. Romulos Delfin of Dauin town, and Insp. Deogracias Lorico of Valencia town.
Robredo said the three chiefs of police were ordered relieved by Negros Oriental police provincial director Senior Supt. Edward Carranza on the strength of the Philippine National Police’s one-strike policy on illegal gambling.
“Those other COPs (chiefs of police) who will defy our standing one-strike policy against illegal gambling shall suffer the same fate,” Robredo said in a statement.
“I am giving stern warning to other COPs and PNP provincial directors that I won’t hesitate to order their relief if they would fail in our anti-gambling campaign,” he added.
“Swertres” is an illegal numbers game whose winning combination is derived from the thrice-a-day draws of the three-digit lottery games run by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Carranza said in his report to Robredo.
Carranza added that “swertres” games were being operated by different gambling lords in almost every municipality in Negros Oriental, particularly Dauin and Valencia towns and Tanjay City, where they were most prevalent.
“Most of them (have) the discreet blessings of local politicians,” Carranza said in the statement.
“Swertres” can be played only using a cellular phone and by monitoring the PCSO draw results on the radio, Carranza said.
He said swertres operators are using the latest communication technology, placing their bets via text messaging.
“The bettors would just type their numbers and amount of bets and text them to the bet collectors. Since both know each other, the payments for the winning or losing bets are being done later. So, it’s really hard to catch them. But we won’t stop in pursuing them,” Carranza said. /INQUIRER