The Metropolitan Association of Race Horse Owners joined forces with the Congress, the Games and Amusements Board, the National Bureau of Investigation and the police to eradicate illegal bookmaking operators, whose proliferation remains the biggest problem of Philippine horseracing.
Illegal bookmakers are estimated to have grossed a staggering 9 billion pesos in 2005, more than the the legal side of the racing industry.
Some of them are also horse owners who bribe jockeys, trainers and even racing stewards to throw races in their favor. Others are legal off-track betting-parlor operators running the illegal bookmaking in the backroom.
Benhur Abalos, President of the Metropolitan Association of Race Horse Owners, called the media to provide law enforcers with the “ammunition” to take out the bookies and their financiers.
“We invite the media and the betting public to actually bet with the bookies, then keep their stubs and other receipts so we can use these as evidence against them,” Abalos said.
“Those with cameras on their mobile phones could also take pictures of where these bookies operate, so we could send these to the police and other law-enforcement agencies for action,” he added.
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