Pampanga mayors want to legalize jueteng

CANDABA, Pampanga — Mayors from the home province of President Arroyo are pushing for the legalization of the centuries-old numbers game jueteng.

The Pampanga Mayors’ League is set to meet today in Quezon City to consider passing a resolution asking Congress to legalize jueteng.

The league is headed by Lubao, Pampanga Mayor Dennis Pineda, a son of Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda, who is suspected of controlling the nation’s largest jueteng network. The elder Pineda, however, has never been convicted of any jueteng-related offense. Lubao is the President’s hometown.

Mayor Pineda is in the United States, and league members are not sure if he will back the proposal to legalize jueteng.

Candaba, Pampanga Mayor Jerry Pelayo told The STAR yesterday the resolution asking Congress to legalize jueteng would reflect the sentiments of Mrs. Arroyo who, he said, wants the numbers game legalized.

"We will ask Congress to legalize jueteng," he said.

"We will also ask its members to stop the jueteng inquiries, which we believe are a waste of taxpayers’ money and time which should instead be utilized for legislation that would benefit our people," Pelayo said.

The resolution would be sent to the Senate and the House of Representatives, with a warning that pursuing the jueteng inquiries would only give government destabilizers an opportunity to oust the Arroyo administration, he added.

Recent jueteng exposés implicated Bong Pineda, whom Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson had once identified as among those who gave huge payoffs to deposed President Joseph Estrada when he was still in power.

Pineda’s operations are reportedly based in Mrs. Arroyo’s hometown of Lubao, which Senate opposition leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has described as the "Vatican" of jueteng.

Central Luzon police commander Chief Superintendent Alejandro Lapinid said he did not know the whereabouts of "Bong" Pineda.

For his part, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima warned yesterday that legalizing jueteng could pose an "administrative nightmare" that would create more problems than benefits from additional revenues.

Purisima rejected the proposal to legalize jueteng as a "cop-out" that would send the wrong signals to criminals.

"It’s a surrender to criminal elements in our society, condoning the corruption that jueteng represents," he said. "What we need to do is to review the role of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor)."

Purisima said it would not be possible for the government to monitor, let alone regulate, hundreds if not thousands of retail jueteng franchises nationwide.

"The game itself is inherently defective and grossly disadvantageous to the players," he said. "Legalizing jueteng will create more problems than it solves."

Purisima said the government should instead consider the consolidation of the PCSO and Pagcor, ultimately separating their regulatory and operating functions.

"In the end, that should be the basis for selling of franchises for the operation of gaming and sweepstakes by territory," he said. "This is the track that will lead to more revenues."

Purisima said selling franchises by territory would create revenues from franchise fees and the continuing share of the government from the operations.

"More importantly, we will be able to screen the quality of operators as well as better regulate the process," he said.

"Clearly we have to do a more thorough study, including the social impact of such activities. Simply legalizing jueteng is a cop-out."

‘Public purposes’

On the other hand, Sen. Edgardo Angara said yesterday proceeds from legalized jueteng, like those of the national lotto and legalized sweepstakes, could then be used openly for public purposes. 

"Instead of imposing additional taxes on the people, why not use jueteng as another source of government revenue?" he said.

Angara said when he was first elected to the Senate in 1987, he was against legalization of jueteng, because at the time he thought it was wrong. Now he holds a different view.

"What is wrong with jueteng is its lack of transparency that is essential for a democracy," he said.

"So because of lack of transparency, people do not know where the profits from jueteng go. If the public knows where the profits go — to hospitals, community development or police intelligence activities — people will come to accept the practice because of its social value that goes to the community."

Angara said jueteng, if legalized, would make it less necessary for government to impose new taxes as it would become an alternative and lucrative source of revenue.

"What is the difference between the lotto and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes?" he asked.

"The only difference is that while the lotto and sweepstakes have been legalized, jueteng is outlawed. Jueteng is not, per se, immoral — just like bingo, which is not immoral if played for church support or charity.

"Jueteng has been (with us) since the American period of occupation, and in New York City a form of jueteng was operated by the Mafia, but it disappeared when the numbers game was legalized."

Two or three bills are pending in the Senate and in the House of Representatives proposing the legalization of jueteng, Angara said. 

Meanwhile, Central Luzon police authorities uncovered yesterday "guerilya" jueteng operations in various parts of the region, mostly in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, and arrested some 100 collectors and bettors and seized at least P34,000.

Jueteng draws have been conducted in "guerilya" or underground fashion following a renewed police crackdown in Central Luzon and other regions.

The collection has reportedly declined as only few bettors patronize this kind of operation.

In Bulacan, police said 25 collectors were arrested; in Nueva Ecija, 30; Angeles City, 19; Pampanga, seven; Tarlac, five; Olongapo City, three; and two in Zambales.

A source said jueteng operators last Saturday held a four-cock derby at the Angeles City Casino to raise funds for top government officials and national media critical of jueteng.

The group is targeting an average of P50 million as "initial funds" for the "arrangement," the source added.

In Angeles City alone, there were at least eight jueteng stations, with each station collecting an average of P200,000 to P300,000 for the three-times-daily draws.

In Mabalacat, Mayor Marino Morales said the proposal to legalize jueteng was initiated by Pelayo, but he could not say whether Mayor Pineda was informed about the resolution.

"He (Mayor Pineda) is in the United States and we don’t know his contact number," he said.

Morales said he supports the legalization of jueteng as it would bring in revenue for the government that would benefit even the "most marginalized people." — With reports from Des Ferriols, Ric Sapnu