Philippine cops told to get rid of illegal gambling or get lost

Philippine police officials have been given two weeks to eradicate illegal gambling or turn in their badges, after a top cop blew his stack.

On Monday, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief director general Ronaldo ‘Bato’ dela Rosa told reporters that all PNP regional directors had been ordered to “go all out against illegal gambling.” Dela Rosa (pictured) said if the order proved too much for his subordinates, “I will relieve them.”

Dela Rosa said the new order applied equally to regional directors, provincial police directors and chiefs of police. Each stop along the upper registers of the chain of command had been given the authority to relieve “those who are not performing, those who are not acting on my directive.”

Dela Rosa said he was responding to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to “intensify the fight” against the “social menace” of illegal gambling, in particular operators of the jueteng numbers games that directly compete with the Small Town Lottery (STL) operations of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).