NINE suspected scalpers were arrested by police after trying to sell overpriced tickets to UAAP Season 81 Finals Game 1 between Ateneo Blue Eagles and University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons last Saturday at SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena in Pasay City, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) reported Sunday.
NCRPO Director Guillermo Eleazar identified the arrested suspects as Rex Peral, barangay tanod; Alfredo Molina, Antonio Borja, and Edgardo Lacap IV, all of Pasay City; Alex Vinas of Paranaque City; Michael Dino of Laguna; Jhon Randell Guison and Billy Jon Alturas of Manila; and Alberto Manarang of Caloocan City.
Eleazar said the suspects were apprehended after police received information that there were individuals selling tickets 10 to 20 times its original price within the vicinity of the mall.
Police learned that the game’s VIP tickets regularly priced at P450 were being sold by scalpers for P3,000, while the lower box SRO tickets priced at 350 were sold for P1,500 and the upper box tickets worth P200 were offered for P1,000. The P75 general admission price were sold for P750, the P50 tickets for P500 and the upper box complementary tickets for P700.
“Most of the people who will attend the games are students. It’s such a pity if students will have to pay 10 to 20 times the ticket value to watch, considering they live on measly allowances,” Eleazar said.
He added that scalping, or the act of buying tickets and selling it at a bigger price, is prohibited in Pasay City by virtue of City Ordinance Number 192 or the Anti-Scalping ordinance.
According to a police report, even foreign embassy guests were out to buy tickets last Saturday. but they could not any because syndicates have taken hold of them.
Game 2 of the best-of-three series will be on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City and Eleazar said they will be watching out for scalpers.
“We will arrest scalpers anywhere this series goes. We may even get the masterminds. So I am warning these opportunists, these syndicates, stop because we will get you,” Eleazar warned. (Martin A. Sadongdong)
