COTABATO CITY: Police on Friday afternoon arrested six persons for engaging in illegal cockfighting.

In a report, Maguindanao Police Director, Col. Arnold Santiago, said the six were caught in the act of gambling in Barangay Labungan, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

Police withheld the identities of the suspects pending the filing of an official complaint before the provincial prosecutor’s office for violation of Presidential Decree 1602, or the law on illegal gambling, and the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

Santiago said about six others managed to escape when police arrived at the cockpit area.

“The police raiding team seized two fighting cocks and more than PHP2,000 bet money,” Santiago said.

Data provided by the Police Regional Office – Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao said that more than 100 had been arrested across the region for illegal gambling since March amid the implementation of quarantine guidelines against the coronavirus disease 2019. 

(PNA/Edwin Fernandez/SRNY/RSP)