Majority of 309 Arrested Bettors Plead Guilty of Illegal Gambling

Majority of the 309 bettors arrested during the raid of a cockpit in Mandaue City were released after they pleaded guilty of the illegal gambling charge in court.

Police Major Edwin Lacostales said that the Regional Trial Court in Mandaue City sentenced them to three days in prison and imposed a fine of P1500 each for their violation. However, the judge did not let them pay the fine because they had served five days which was two days more than the three-day jail sentence imposed by the court for their violation, and so they were released.

He added that the 15 employees of the cockpit, who were also arrested during the raid, pleaded not guilty and continued to be detained at the CIDG-7 office. They have to wait for the court to release their information setting their bail so that they could pay it for their temporary liberty.

One of the bettors, who was released, said he was happy that he could go home, but he was also sad because he got fired from his job as a collector of a motorcycle distributor company.

When asked if he would still continue to gamble on cockfighting, he said he had learned his lesson, but he would not stop gambling because he enjoyed doing it.