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A sister of Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao was involved in running an illegal gambling racket, police said on Friday after detaining 25 people in a raid on her home. A police vice squad detained the 25 and seized evidence, including gambling materials and cash, in Thursday’s raid on the home of Pacquiao’s elder sister, Isidra Paglinawan, said local police Chief Insp. Leo Sua.
Pacquiao, the seven-time world champion elected to a lawmaker’s seat in the House of Representatives this year, personally watched as police searched the house in the southern port city of General Santos in South Cotabato province, but vowed not to interfere.
A lower court in General Santos ordered the raid as part of a crackdown on an illegal numbers game known as “masiao,” but Paglinawan, 34, was not at home, Sua told reporters.
The game is popularly called “Last 2” in the Philippines.
Sua said that the 25 detained people were bet collectors for the illegal racket, in which bettors place wagers on the last two digits of the winning ticket of the Philippine lottery.
Police seized P33,000 (about $721) in suspected bets, added Sua, who led the raid.
He said that police would ask state prosecutors to file illegal-gambling charges in court against Paglinawan and the 25 other suspects.
Sua added that police were searching for Paglinawan.
Pacquiao told reporters on Friday that he was attending his father’s birthday party when police raided Paglinawan’s house next door.
He said he would ask the police to investigate whether his sister was indeed a masiao operator.
“I will not interfere. Let the law take its course,” boxing’s “pound-for-pound” king said.
During a television interview, Pacquiao also on Friday said that if proven that her sister was involved in illegal gambling, Isidra should face the consequences.
He added that it was not in his nature to tolerate wrongdoings, even if his own relatives and loved ones are the ones accused.
“Kung may kinalaman siya dito eh . . . kung may kasalanan siya, eh di parusahan. Ganoon naman ako, walang pinipili [If my sister was involved . . . if she was at fault, she should be punished. That’s me, I don’t take the side of anyone who is proved to have made a mistake],” Pacquiao said.
Giovanni Mata, a lawyer for the ring icon, said, “I understand that the search team will do their work.
They have to continue processing the documentation.”
Betting in an illegal numbers game, or allowing one’s property to be used for such a game is punishable by up to six years in prison.
Working for an illegal gambling operation, or actually running it, carries jail terms of between eight and 20 years.
The well-appointed houses of Pacquiao’s parents and five siblings are tourist attractions in the otherwise depressed General Santos district of San Isidro, where Pacquiao grew up in poverty.
The sister sought by police and her husband has no known permanent jobs.
It, however, is well known in the neighborhood that Pacquiao, now one of the world’s richest sportsmen, gave his relatives the houses and large amounts of seed money to start their own businesses.
His winnings from boxing as well as his commercial endorsements last year made Pacquiao the world’s sixth-highest paid athlete, with earnings of $40 million, according to Forbes magazine.
During the election campaign in May, aides of Pacquiao’s rival for the lone congressional seat in Sarangani alleged that the boxer’s family were masiao operators.
Pacquiao, the seven-time world champion elected to a lawmaker’s seat in the House of Representatives this year, personally watched as police searched the house in the southern port city of General Santos in South Cotabato province, but vowed not to interfere.
A lower court in General Santos ordered the raid as part of a crackdown on an illegal numbers game known as “masiao,” but Paglinawan, 34, was not at home, Sua told reporters.
The game is popularly called “Last 2” in the Philippines.
Sua said that the 25 detained people were bet collectors for the illegal racket, in which bettors place wagers on the last two digits of the winning ticket of the Philippine lottery.
Police seized P33,000 (about $721) in suspected bets, added Sua, who led the raid.
He said that police would ask state prosecutors to file illegal-gambling charges in court against Paglinawan and the 25 other suspects.
Sua added that police were searching for Paglinawan.
Pacquiao told reporters on Friday that he was attending his father’s birthday party when police raided Paglinawan’s house next door.
He said he would ask the police to investigate whether his sister was indeed a masiao operator.
“I will not interfere. Let the law take its course,” boxing’s “pound-for-pound” king said.
During a television interview, Pacquiao also on Friday said that if proven that her sister was involved in illegal gambling, Isidra should face the consequences.
He added that it was not in his nature to tolerate wrongdoings, even if his own relatives and loved ones are the ones accused.
“Kung may kinalaman siya dito eh . . . kung may kasalanan siya, eh di parusahan. Ganoon naman ako, walang pinipili [If my sister was involved . . . if she was at fault, she should be punished. That’s me, I don’t take the side of anyone who is proved to have made a mistake],” Pacquiao said.
Giovanni Mata, a lawyer for the ring icon, said, “I understand that the search team will do their work.
They have to continue processing the documentation.”
Betting in an illegal numbers game, or allowing one’s property to be used for such a game is punishable by up to six years in prison.
Working for an illegal gambling operation, or actually running it, carries jail terms of between eight and 20 years.
The well-appointed houses of Pacquiao’s parents and five siblings are tourist attractions in the otherwise depressed General Santos district of San Isidro, where Pacquiao grew up in poverty.
The sister sought by police and her husband has no known permanent jobs.
It, however, is well known in the neighborhood that Pacquiao, now one of the world’s richest sportsmen, gave his relatives the houses and large amounts of seed money to start their own businesses.
His winnings from boxing as well as his commercial endorsements last year made Pacquiao the world’s sixth-highest paid athlete, with earnings of $40 million, according to Forbes magazine.
During the election campaign in May, aides of Pacquiao’s rival for the lone congressional seat in Sarangani alleged that the boxer’s family were masiao operators.
@ $720
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