Peryahan operator threatens to sue cops who arrested bet takers

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Globaltech Mobile Online Corp. (GMOC), the operator of Peryahan Games (or Peryahan ng Bayan), threatened to sue police officers who arrested four bet collectors in Tigbauan, Iloilo.

Atty. Bernard Vitriolo, GMOC vice president for legal affairs, said they would file an administrative case for grave misconduct before the Office of the Ombudsman and a criminal case for indirect contempt with the Pasig City Regional Trial Court.

Vitriolo said they are gathering documents against the police officers in the operation.

He again cited the Status Quo Ante Order of the Court of Appeals issued on Jan. 14, 2019 in defending the legitimacy of their operations in the city and province of Iloilo.

Three women and a man who were collecting bets for Peryahan Games were arrested on July 15, 2021 in Tigbauan, Iloilo.

Apprehended were Julie Tuliba, 42 of Barangay 9, Sta. Lucia, Tigbauan; Marites Ganolon, 43, of Barangay 8, Poblacion, Allera Street, Tigbauan; Jocelyn Chavez, 37, of Barangay 2, Tigbauan; and Joel Ganolon, 38, of Barangay Namocon, Tigbauan.

Their arrest happened a day after Vitriolo insisted that their operation in the city and province of Iloilo is legal.

Members of the PNP Regional Intelligence Division 6 (RID-6), the Iloilo Police Provincial Office – Provincial Intelligence Unit (IPPO-PIU), Tigbauan Police Station, and the Iloilo Maritime Police Station collared the four persons 12:30 pm Thursday at the Tigbauan Public Market.

Police reports stated that they “were caught in the act of soliciting/collecting bet money from bettors of illegal numbers game known as Peryahan ng Bayan Throw Coins.”

Recovered from Tuliba was a tab paper used as PnB cotejos or bet list; a ballpen and P390 while Marites yielded P130 cash apart from the bet list and ballpen.

Cops also seized from Diaz a set of PnB cotejos, a ballpen and P160 bet money while Joel also yielded a bet list, ballpen, and P825 in cash bets.

Police insisted that the suspects failed to present pertinent documents authorizing them to engage in such activity.

On Tuesday, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) announced that the Peryahan Games operation in Panay Island was illegal.

The following day, Atty. Vitriolo insisted that they have legal basis in operating Peryahan Games in Iloilo.

But PRO-6, through its spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, said police would arrest anyone involved in Peryahan Games citing as bases the certification and letter issued by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

“The PCSO has already declared that the operations of Peryahan Games are only done in 15 areas. None of them are in Panay Island,” she said.

On Wednesday, Malong said police in the province and city of Iloilo reported that Peryahan Games’ offices in their areas of operation have closed.

But recent reports indicate that Peryahan did not stop and continues to hold draws.

For the PNP, this is apparently in violation to the July 5 PCSO communication sent to Brigadier General Rolando Miranda, Western Visayas police chief.

In the letter, PCSO said that it has approved new Authorized Agent Corporations in Panay Island to operate the Small Town Lottery (STL).

Royina Garma, PCSO vice-chairperson and general manager, identified these new AACs as 7 Aces Games and Amusement Corp., which is operating in Iloilo; Iloilo Small Town Lottery Gaming Corp. in Iloilo City; 888 Good Fortune Gaming Ventures Corp in Capiz and Antique provinces; and Great Lion Gaming Ventures Inc. in Aklan.

But along that declaration, Garma clarified that the “above mentioned areas are not included in the Status Quo Ante Order issued by the Regional Trial Court of Mandaluyong City to Peryahan ng Bayan.”

Further, “the Office of the President issued a Memorandum that the resumption of operation of Peryahan ng Bayan does not bear the approval of the President and therefore is still subject to the suspension order of PCSO games,” Garma noted.

A week before this, it was gathered that 7 Aces Games and Amusement Corp. has asked for a certification from PCSO attesting that the agency granted them authority to operate the STL game in Iloilo province.

Garma issued the certification on June 29.

In the same letter, she also noted that “Iloilo province is not included in the fifteen areas of Peryahan Games covered by the Status Quo Ante Order issued by the Court.”