3 gov’t cash aid recipients in Quezon nabbed for illegal gambling

LUCENA CITY – At least four persons, three of them recipients of the government’s emergency cash aid under the Social Amelioration Program (SAP), were arrested in Real town in Quezon province early Sunday for illegal gambling.

Real town police said the suspects, Lester Labiña, Noli Azaña, Domingo Jutaro, and Henry Revellame, were caught the playing card game “pusoy” with money bets in Barangay (village) Malapad around 12:45 a.m.

Authorities seized P640 cash bets in different denominations and a set of playing cards.

Police tagged Labiña, Azaña, and Jutaro as all recipients of the government cash subsidy to help indigent Filipinos cope with the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The suspects were detained at the town jail and are facing illegal gambling charges for violating Presidential Decree 1602.# Delfin T. Mallari Jr., @dtmallarijrINQ, Inquirer Southern Luzon