Police Director General Arturo Lomibao has "deactivated" the Anti-Illegal Gambling Special Operation Task Force, the members of  which were sued by a businessman from San Manuel town allegedly for attempted robbery/extortion.

But Lomibao said the deactivation was not because of the case filed but because the task force's lifespan, or purpose, had expired.

"A task force has a life of its own. I believe the task force has served its purpose," Lomibao told reporters here, adding that he transferred the task force's mandate to the Criminal Investigation Detection Group.

It is the task force which conducts raids on illegal gambling operations in the provinces and which recommends the police officers who should be relieved based on the national police's one strike policy on illegal gambling.

The task force, however, was the subject of a court case after its members allegedly tried to extort P35,000 from drop ball game operators in San Manuel town.

In a report submitted by Inspector Diosdado Ginez, San Manuel police chief, to Pangasinan Police Director Alan Purisima, he said last March 2, the members of the Task Force
asked Melandro Castro for P35,000 which they reduced to P20,000.

The report named the members of the task force as SPO1 Samson Dumlao, SPO1 Artemio Pajimola, SPO1 Pablito Reyes and civilian agent Dante Abat.

When Castro said he can afford only P5,000, the task force started to dismantle the table where drop ball, a parlor game played during fiestas, was being played.

It was only when they were dismantling the table when the task force went to the town's police station to inform the local police that they will conduct anti-illegal gambling
operation in the town, the report said.

Lomibao explained that the task force must first coordinate with the local police if there are reports that the police are directly or indirectly involved in illegal gambling, before
doing operations.