Nine scalpers were arrested in Pasay during the first UAAP basketball game between Ateneo de Manila University & the University of the Philippines on Saturday.

According to the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), the suspects were apprehended by members of the MOA Pasay City Police 11 in the act of violating City Ordinance 192, or the anti-scalping ordinance, in the vicinity of the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena, Pasay City where the basketball game was held.

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Authorities arrested Alfredo Molina, Edgardo Lacap IV, Antonio Borja, and Rex Peral from Pasay City; Michael Diño from San Pedro, Laguna; Jhon Randell Guison from Leveriza St., Manila; Alex Viñas from Parañaque City; Billy Jon Alturas from Singalong St., Manila; and Alberto Manarang from Caloocan City, the report said.

The NCRPO said that the VIP tickets for the game were sold by the scalpers for P3,000 from its original price of P450 and the lower box standing-room-only (SRO) tickets originally priced at P350 were being sold for P1,500.

Meanwhile, the upper box ticket worth P200 was being sold for P1,000 while the general admission ticket worth P75 was being sold for P750, and the other general admission tickets priced at P50 were being sold for P500.

The upper box 417 coral tickets intended as complimentary passes were being sold for P700, the NCRPO added.

The arrest of the scalpers were implemented by Pasay City Police Station Chief Noel Flores as directed by NCRPO Director Guillermo Eleazar and Southern Police District Director Police Senior Supt. Eliseo Cruz.

“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 in a statement on Sunday.

“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,” he added.

Moreover, Cruz warned that police forces will continue its crackdown on scalpers.

“Even our foreign embassy guests are looking for tickets and it’s a shame that they can’t get tickets because syndicates have cornered the tickets so they can sell at higher prices,” Cruz said.

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Meanwhile, Flores said that the arrest of the nine scalpers “be a lesson to the scalping syndicate.”

“Stop. Let the tickets be sold freely in the open market,” he said. /je

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