By Jennifer P. Rendon
In the midst of the celebration of the Dinagyang Festival, an alleged illegal gambling operation was happening in a thickly populated City Proper district in Iloilo City.
This prompted Mayor Jerry Treñas to call on members of the Philippine National Police to stop the reported gambling at the flyover at the corner of Delgado and Valeria Streets.
Treñas stressed that illegal gambling has no place in the celebration of the Dinagyang.
“No permit has been given and no permit can be given for such an illegal activity,” he said in a Facebook post early morning of Jan 22, 2023.
It turned out that the alleged illegal gambling was in the guise of a “perya” or carnival.
Major Shella Mae Sangrines, Iloilo City Police Station 1 commander, said they immediately checked the area after receiving reports from informants.
“We heard of many persons placing big bets at the perya,” she said.
The “pula-puti” game allegedly happened at the area of food kiosks under the Kaon Ta, Iloilo management.
Traditionally played during fiesta celebrations, pula-puti is a color game set with a mobile box of tiles and plastic balls.
The game is played by throwing balls into colored boxes in order to win a prize corresponding to the compartments or tiles the balls land on.
Sangrines said they contacted the Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc. (IFFI) through its executive director Joyce Clavecillas.
It appeared that both the IFFI and KTI leadership claimed the permit was for a “perya” operation.
“By perya, they thought that there would be games but no money would be involved as bets,” she said.
When the team of Major Val Ladublan, ICPS 2 chief and Dinagyang Festival Site Task Group (STG) Sector 2 commander, checked the area, the pula-puti games were already dismantled.
According to a source, the pula-puti games started on Jan 19, the first day of the Dinagyang food festival.
On the same date, the police had told operators to stop the activity.
But the operations resumed after several individuals claimed that Treñas allowed them to do so.
The mayor later disavowed the claim.
“In effect, Mayor Treñas doesn’t know about it. His name was just used by enterprising individuals who want to earn big,” the source added.
