The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Thursday reiterated its call to all police commanders to eradicate “e-sabong” games in compliance with a directive from President Duterte stopping the online cockfighting operation.
“The NCRPO will implement the order of our President and we shall ensure that no such operation exists in our area of responsibility.
This is a stern call to all the commanders on the ground to see that this order is being carried out,” said Metro Manila police director Maj. Gen. Felipe Natividad.
“Those who do not follow this order of our dear President will face the severity of the law to be enforced by the NCRPO. So, I call on everyone to voluntarily stop this kind of work and let us abide by the law,” he added.
Natividad said the innate culture of the Philippine National Police goes against gambling in all of its forms.
“In fact, even before this, no less than our Chief PNP ordered for all personnel to cease from engaging in this e-sabong,” he said.
The NCRPO is conducting mobile phone inspections on its personnel to ensure compliance with this order.
PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos had directed all unit commanders to check mobile phones and other electronic devices of their subordinates to determine those who are hooked on e-sabong.
Carlos said police officers incurring debts of up to P3 million is no small matter as it could force them to engage in criminal activities to recoup their losses.
The PNP chief also said he believed that checking police officers’ phones for this purpose would not violate their rights to privacy.
He added that policemen are barred from any forms of gambling even if they are off-duty.
