(Eagle News)–Senator Panfilo Lacson on Friday, June 29, said the police were “duty-bound” to enforce the law against illegal gambling, including jueteng.
Lacson made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte said he would have to find another source of livelihood for people if there was a crackdown on jueteng now.
But according to Lacson, the President may have meant “he wanted to prioritize illegal drugs over illegal gambling, if there is compelling reason.”
“There can be no legal justification not to arrest an offender who is committing a crime in the presence of a law enforcer, be it a drug offender or an illegal gambler,” Lacson said.
According to Lacson, there is an “existing law declaring jueteng, among other forms of gambling, as illegal, and it is not exempt from being pursued by law enforcement authorities.”
“It also breeds corruption among law enforcement agencies,” Lacson, who headed the PNP from 1999 to 2001, said.
He noted that following illegal orders from their superiors, including their commander-in-chief, therefore, “is not a valid legal defense in court.”
Because of this, he said police personnel “should be ready for the consequences if they follow illegal orders from anybody, not from their superiors, not from their commander-in-chief.”