Raid on bingo lottery in Bicol yields jueteng equipment

A bingo lottery in a barangay in Naga City in Bicol turned out to be a front for the popular but illegal numbers game jueteng, after police acting on a tip raided the area Tuesday night.

The house of barangay chairman Joshua Calleja in Barangay Dayangdang even had a sign it was hosting a bingo lottery, GMA Bicol's Avril Daja and Michelle Chua reported.

But when police raided it, they found documents and pieces of paper as well as gambling paraphernalia indicating the house was used for jueteng operations.

Calleja was not in the house, though police found 27 people inside. Many of those arrested claimed they did not know they were involved in a jueteng operation.

The 27 arrested people were brought to the prosecutor's office.

Calleja, for his part, maintained he did not violate the law because he was running a bingo lottery to raise funds.

"Ang pagkaalam ko legal ang fund-raising base doon sa mga papeles," he said.

The local city council will investigate the matter.

"Lumalabas kasi na yung bingo lihis doon sa hiningi nilang permiso na hindi naman pala bingo sa barangay," Naga City councilor Reyann Rentoy said. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News