Makati condo Unit turned into poker house raided

OFFICE BY DAY, GAMBLING DEN BY NIGHT Seventeen people are caught playing poker at a condominium unit on Salcedo Street on Saturday night. —PHOTO FROM MAKATI POLICE

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 17 people, 12 of them foreigners, were arrested on Saturday night at a condominium unit in Makati City that had been turned into an illegal poker house.

When the Makati police raided Unit 501 of Cattleya Condominium on Salcedo Street, Legaspi Village, they caught the suspects playing poker.

Found inside were sets of playing cards, a poker table, poker chips and P23,290 in cash representing the players’ bets.

According to Makati police chief Col. Rogelio Simon, the condominium unit functioned as the office of a consulting agency in the morning, but at night, it would turn into a gambling den.

The unit owner, British-Filipino Oliver Lewis, however, denied that he was running an illegal gambling operation, telling the police they were playing for “fun and networking.”

Players were invited through an online chat group, he said.

Among those arrested were Filipino, British, Dutch, French, American and Danish nationals residing in upscale condominiums in the Makati Central Business District or at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

They were detained at the Makati police station on charges of violating Presidential Decree No. 1602, amended by Republic Act No. 9287.

Earlier this month, Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas, the Metro Manila police chief, ordered an intensified crackdown on all forms of illegal gambling.

Besides “jueteng,” the illegal numbers game, also targeted were “cara y cruz,” video “karera,” cockfighting and color games.

Sinas also directed his men not to spare card and board games such as “tong-its,” “sakla” and “pusoy,” even if these were being played at wakes.