Eight more suspected scalpers of Universities Athletic Association of the Philippines Finals tickets have been arrested by the police as authorities intensified its crackdown against illegal ticket sellers, the National Capital Region Police Office revealed Monday.
NCRPO chief Director Guillermo Eleazar identified the suspects as Alvin Castro, 41; Carlo Reyes, 34; Rodel Checa, 50; Romeo Panopio; 45, Ma. Helen Beatriz Ilagan, 29; all residents of Manila; Manrique Guelas, 53, and Victor Arenas, 52, both from Cavite; and Aristotle Elizondo, 57, of Pasay City.
The suspects violated Pasay Ordinance No. 192 or the Anti-Scalping Ordinance, police said.
Eleazar said the suspects were caught selling overpriced tickets by the NCRPO Regional Special Operations Unit around 3 p.m. Saturday during Game 1 of the UAAP Finals between the Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles and University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons within the vicinity of the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The suspects were arrested hours after the first operation against suspected scalpers were carried out by law enforcers around 11 a.m. of the same day. Nine suspects were caught in the first operation, the NCRPO chief earlier said.
“The scalper syndicate controls the tickets and releases it through their crooked salesmen at prices at least 10 times the real value, leaving the students at their mercy. Pitiful,” Eleazar stated.
It was learned that VIP tickets regularly priced at P450 were sold for P3,000; the lower box tickets priced at P350 were sold for P1,500; and the upper box tickets worth P200 were sold for P1,000. (Martin Sadongdong)