CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—To win the war against jueteng in Pampanga, the Small-Town Lottery (STL) must first be stopped.
Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio David gave this recommendation to Gov. Eddie Panlilio on Wednesday along his view that the government-sanctioned STL has actually served as the legal cover for its underground precursor.
David made the call as he observed that Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and the Philippine National Police spokesperson, Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, gave “well-rehearsed dialogue” on STL and jueteng.
“It’s a malaise in our society. That’s why we’re implementing STL to kill jueteng,” Ermita had said in a report in a national daily.
In the same report, Bartolome had said that the legal operations of STL might have been taken as jueteng by mistake.
By these explanations, David said these officials are making it “technical” for the governor and anti-gambling advocates to eliminate jueteng.
BIG FAVOR
“The national government did a big favor to jueteng lords by introducing STL. STL is not killing jueteng. It has given a new life to jueteng. You need to remove the camouflage, which is STL, to be able to expose the truth that it’s jueteng” the bishop said in an interview.
David has been supporting the programs of the Pampanga Anti-Gambling Council, which is comprised of elected officials as well as leaders of churches and non-government organizations.
A PAGC statement last year said the underground lottery should be eradicated because it has been siphoning the hard-earned money of the poor, inculcating the culture of chance rather than industry and hard work. Jueteng has also exerted influences in elections, government and other institutions, PAGC said.
David said a PAGC study showed that while cobradores (bet collectors) display STL ID cards, the bets they are collecting are actually for jueteng.
“Every Kapampangan knows they’re waging bets for jueteng,” he said, adding “this must be stopped because jueteng is criminal.”
The STL-jueteng tandem is a problem that is also being confronted by other dioceses where the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has also granted permits to STL agents, David pointed out.
According to him, it was not enough that Panlilio sued alleged jueteng lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda for plunder at the Office of the Ombudsman or seek a provincial police director who can seriously be relied upon to rid Pampanga of jueteng.
In the first, the case has not moved on despite the request of 69 Catholic bishops to Ombudswoman Merceditas Gutierrez to seriously study its merits.
In the second, the 18 requests of Panlilio in the last 20 months to select a provincial police director have turned for naught.
David said he was not surprised that the new police officer in charge of Pampanga, Senior Supt. Gil Lebin, claimed not to know that jueteng exists in Pampanga.
“That tells a lot about him. The operations of jueteng as STL is the reason why the PNP is tongue in cheek about it. I blew my tops when his predecessor (Senior Supt. Keith Singian) said in a meeting last year that there is no jueteng in Pampanga. And he said that without batting an eyelash,” David recalled.
NO GMA ORDER
Panlilio said he pursued the same suggestion last year but got stumped at the first step.
The PCSO, he said, told him that the provincial government has “no jurisdiction” over STL.
On Wednesday, PCSO legal chief Larry Patiag echoed that. “STL is a national government project through PCSO pursuant to Republic Act 1169,” he said.
STL project director Romualdo Quiñones said the PCSO board has renewed the permit of Suncove Corp. to run STL in Pampanga until 2011. Its operations, he said, has been approved by the previous officers of the provincial board and Pampanga Mayors League. Suncove papers did not bear the name of Pineda as owner or incorporator, he said.
“From my end, I don’t recall that the governor has ever signed a document stating he was for or against STL,” Quiñones said.
Provincial administrator Vivian Dabu said the governor wrote PCSO a letter last year to express opposition to STL for serving as a front to jueteng.
Suncove reported gross sales of P378.052 million from September 2006 to March 2008, the second biggest earner after the Pirouette Corp. in Quezon City for that period, a PCSO report showed.
Dabu said the province received P13 million as STL shares and Panlilio ordered this placed in a trust fund to support livelihood projects for bet collectors who might be displaced by the anti-gambling drive, she said.
Panlilio urged Palace and PNP officials to instead help him stop jueteng in the province than denying or heaping all the responsibility on him.
“So many officials have spoken but I did not hear our President order the police, which is directly under her command, to look into this governor’s reports and act on the problem,” he said.
Patiag indicated he was not keen to the idea of canceling STL in Pampanga. “What should be stopped is the jueteng so we can increase the STL sales,” he said.
According to him, STL can be distinguished through the Ids of agents, tickets, station, office and draw court which are all open to the public.
Asked if the PCSO was actually monitoring STL in Pampanga, Patiag replied: “Yes, through PCSO Angeles. Of course, we welcome reports regarding illegal games disguising as STL so we can jointly stamp out jueteng and strengthen STL.”
Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio David gave this recommendation to Gov. Eddie Panlilio on Wednesday along his view that the government-sanctioned STL has actually served as the legal cover for its underground precursor.
David made the call as he observed that Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and the Philippine National Police spokesperson, Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, gave “well-rehearsed dialogue” on STL and jueteng.
“It’s a malaise in our society. That’s why we’re implementing STL to kill jueteng,” Ermita had said in a report in a national daily.
In the same report, Bartolome had said that the legal operations of STL might have been taken as jueteng by mistake.
By these explanations, David said these officials are making it “technical” for the governor and anti-gambling advocates to eliminate jueteng.
BIG FAVOR
“The national government did a big favor to jueteng lords by introducing STL. STL is not killing jueteng. It has given a new life to jueteng. You need to remove the camouflage, which is STL, to be able to expose the truth that it’s jueteng” the bishop said in an interview.
David has been supporting the programs of the Pampanga Anti-Gambling Council, which is comprised of elected officials as well as leaders of churches and non-government organizations.
A PAGC statement last year said the underground lottery should be eradicated because it has been siphoning the hard-earned money of the poor, inculcating the culture of chance rather than industry and hard work. Jueteng has also exerted influences in elections, government and other institutions, PAGC said.
David said a PAGC study showed that while cobradores (bet collectors) display STL ID cards, the bets they are collecting are actually for jueteng.
“Every Kapampangan knows they’re waging bets for jueteng,” he said, adding “this must be stopped because jueteng is criminal.”
The STL-jueteng tandem is a problem that is also being confronted by other dioceses where the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has also granted permits to STL agents, David pointed out.
According to him, it was not enough that Panlilio sued alleged jueteng lord Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda for plunder at the Office of the Ombudsman or seek a provincial police director who can seriously be relied upon to rid Pampanga of jueteng.
In the first, the case has not moved on despite the request of 69 Catholic bishops to Ombudswoman Merceditas Gutierrez to seriously study its merits.
In the second, the 18 requests of Panlilio in the last 20 months to select a provincial police director have turned for naught.
David said he was not surprised that the new police officer in charge of Pampanga, Senior Supt. Gil Lebin, claimed not to know that jueteng exists in Pampanga.
“That tells a lot about him. The operations of jueteng as STL is the reason why the PNP is tongue in cheek about it. I blew my tops when his predecessor (Senior Supt. Keith Singian) said in a meeting last year that there is no jueteng in Pampanga. And he said that without batting an eyelash,” David recalled.
NO GMA ORDER
Panlilio said he pursued the same suggestion last year but got stumped at the first step.
The PCSO, he said, told him that the provincial government has “no jurisdiction” over STL.
On Wednesday, PCSO legal chief Larry Patiag echoed that. “STL is a national government project through PCSO pursuant to Republic Act 1169,” he said.
STL project director Romualdo Quiñones said the PCSO board has renewed the permit of Suncove Corp. to run STL in Pampanga until 2011. Its operations, he said, has been approved by the previous officers of the provincial board and Pampanga Mayors League. Suncove papers did not bear the name of Pineda as owner or incorporator, he said.
“From my end, I don’t recall that the governor has ever signed a document stating he was for or against STL,” Quiñones said.
Provincial administrator Vivian Dabu said the governor wrote PCSO a letter last year to express opposition to STL for serving as a front to jueteng.
Suncove reported gross sales of P378.052 million from September 2006 to March 2008, the second biggest earner after the Pirouette Corp. in Quezon City for that period, a PCSO report showed.
Dabu said the province received P13 million as STL shares and Panlilio ordered this placed in a trust fund to support livelihood projects for bet collectors who might be displaced by the anti-gambling drive, she said.
Panlilio urged Palace and PNP officials to instead help him stop jueteng in the province than denying or heaping all the responsibility on him.
“So many officials have spoken but I did not hear our President order the police, which is directly under her command, to look into this governor’s reports and act on the problem,” he said.
Patiag indicated he was not keen to the idea of canceling STL in Pampanga. “What should be stopped is the jueteng so we can increase the STL sales,” he said.
According to him, STL can be distinguished through the Ids of agents, tickets, station, office and draw court which are all open to the public.
Asked if the PCSO was actually monitoring STL in Pampanga, Patiag replied: “Yes, through PCSO Angeles. Of course, we welcome reports regarding illegal games disguising as STL so we can jointly stamp out jueteng and strengthen STL.”
