Romeo Ranoco
Police in the Philippines have identified the gunman behind Friday’s attack on a casino in Manila that killed 37 people as a gambling addict. The assailant has been named as 42-year-old Jessie Javier Carlos, described by authorities as a down-on-his-luck gambler with massive debts. “He is heavily indebted due to being hooked on casino gambling, according to his immediate family,” Oscar Albayalde, the city’s police chief, was cited as saying by Reuters. Carlos owed about $81,000 from his gambling addiction, Albayalde said. “We reiterate our prior statements that this is not an act of terrorism but this incident is confined to the act of one man alone as we have always said,” he said. Although the so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, Philippine authorities have played down any connection to terrorism, with President Rodrigo Duterte saying on Saturday the attack was the work of a “crazy man” and not tied to an ISIS-linked militant group battling forces in the south of the country.