TADIAN, Mountain Province – The municipal government continuous to aggressive conduct anti-gambling operations within its area of jurisdiction following the reported resurgence of jueteng in the nearby town of Bauko over the past several weeks.
Mayor Constito Masweng stated that he already gave instructions to the personnel of the Tadian Municipal Police Station and barangay officials to be vigilant on the bet collection being conducted by enterprising jueteng bet collectors in the different barangays to contain this from going out of control.
He narrated that jueteng bet collectors from nearby areas with legitimate operation of Small-Town Lottery (STL) have been allegedly going outside their jurisdiction, particularly to the towns of Bauko and Tadian, to collect bets which illegal as these are being done outside of the approved franchise area of the STL.
In the case of Tadian, Mayor Masweng pointed out that local officials and police authorities will not allow bet collectors to go beyond their approved area of operation just to collect bets from residents because this is not allowed under the STL franchise granted by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to the operator and that Tadian had been always against the operation of gambling in the locality over the past several decades.
The local chief executive exhorted barangay officials and police authorities to send a clear message to enterprising bet collectors collecting bets in the different barangays that they are not allowed to do such illegal activity pursuant to the municipal government’s long time anti-gambling policy.
Masweng emphasized that previous and present local officials did not to allow gambling and collection of bets in the municipality for draws undertaken in other areas outside the locality.
According to him, residents should not patronize bet collectors going around the different barangays to send a clear message to them that the present dispensation are really against the conduct of gambling activities in the municipality.
The mayor emphasized it is still best to thwart the illegal activities of bet collectors in the municipality rather than allow this to go out of control once it prospers as it will be more difficult to contain it, thus, barangay officials must be on their toes to stop said activities while it is still early.
Tadian is one of the western towns of Mountain Province that is adjacent to the upland towns of Ilocos Sur and the northern towns of Benguet such as Buguias, Mankayan and Bakun.
Jueteng bet collectors are now trying to use the results of the Easy 2 draws as a cover for their illegal bet collection activities in various parts of Benguet and Mountain Province which had been ongoing over the past several months without the knowledge of local officials and police authorities.
Masweng ordered the barangay officials and police authorities not to allow the entry of jueteng bet collectors in their respective areas of jurisdiction to be able to maintain the town’s gambling-free status.
