The silence on the resurgence of the illegal numbers game of “swertres” is suspicious. This was the observation given by Tagbilaran Mayor Dan Lim during his weekly radio program “Ang Mayor Sa Dakbayan” aired live Saturday morning over Station DyTR. “Why is nobody talking about it now?” the mayor asked. Lim recalled that in the past, there was so much anger and condemnation in the media against illegal gambling. This time, however, the mayor said there is only silence. “I am starting to suspect that something fishy is going on,” the mayor said in an interview after his program. The mayor recalled that in the past, he had been accused of being either financier or protector of illegal gambling. He, however, categorically denied the allegations. This time, he said there has been no mentioned of the resurgence of “swertres”, an illegal gambling activity based on the winning three-number combinations of the daily draws.

Lim revealed that he has received information that certain known gambling personalities were approached by a syndicate that dropped the names of certain powerful government officials. “My sources told me the protectors get 10% from the gross of the daily collections,” he added. The mayor said he is afraid that the existence of the protection racket is one reason for the silence. “Remember that there was a lot of noise about it in the past, so something is missing here,” he added. Lim said the resurgence of illegal gambling cannot remain a secret because the gambling syndicates want bettors to know about their operations. The mayor hinted that those suspected of being involved in the operations this time are “not the people you usually associate with illegal gambling”. He explained that while he has been at the receiving end of the propaganda machinery of his political opponents in the past merely because of his reputation as a “gambler”, he said the players today are those who are “squeaky clean”.

“Let us just say you will be surprised when their identities are unmasked,” the mayor added. Lim admitted that he is still gathering information on the resurgence of illegal gambling activities and would not like to jeopardize his sources. The mayor, however, promised to make public the results of his data-gathering when he has enough evidence to prove his claim. “Where are the so-called enemies of illegal gambling? Why are they silent now? Do they know something we don’t know?” Lim asked.