CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The country’s highest ranking police officer warned those involved in illegal numbers games that their operations would soon be put to an end by authorities.
“Their days are numbered,” said PNP chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa of operators of illegal numbers games, like jueteng and Last Two.
Jueteng is a largely Luzon-based illegal numbers game that has persisted for decades as a result of payoffs to police and local officials.
Last Two is based on the results of the government-sanctioned lotto.
During his visit here, Dela Rosa also said the country’s crime volume has gone down by 49 percent since President Duterte declared war against the illegal drug trade.
Dela Rosa said the decrease in the number of crimes nationwide is enough proof that the government’s vigorous antidrug campaign has been an effective deterrent against criminality.
“This only goes to show that most of the crimes that are happening in our communities are drug-related,” he said.
“That’s why when we focused our resources and attention on the drug problem, crimes also dropped,” Dela Rosa said.
“This campaign is just starting,” he said, adding that despite the criticisms the police have received from various sectors, the war on drugs has remained the focus of the PNP.
“Let us continue with our campaign as long as what we are doing is in compliance with the law and respect of human rights,” he said.
Dela Rosa did not provide figures for comparison but the Northern Mindanao police said for instance, the regional crime volume for July this year dipped by as much as 44 percent compared to the same month during the past two years.
In its report, the regional police said in July 2014, the crime volume was 3,983 while in July 2015, it was 3,171. This year, it went down to just 1,974.
“Our assessment points to the link and direct effect of the diminished presence of illegal drugs in the streets as a result of the intensified anti-illegal [drug] campaign,” said regional police Supt. Surki Serenas.
Most crimes, Serenas said, are drug-related like theft, robbery, domestic violence, rape and all forms of abuse.Jigger Jerusalem, with a report from Orlando Dinoy, Inquirer Mindanao