Mayor Tirso Lacanilao of Apalit, Pampanga, might soon find himself in trouble for admitting he received between P150,000 and P200,000 a month in jueteng payoffs before the government crackdown on the illegal numbers game.
Malacañang yesterday affirmed its opposition to the legalization of jueteng and said Lacanilao could face administrative and criminal charges for accepting the payoffs.
Lacanilao could be investigated by the Department of Interior and Local Government, which could file an administrative case against him, and the Office of the Ombudsman, which could file graft and corruption charges.
In a text message to The STAR, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye also speculated on the possibility of the mayor facing tax evasion charges.
"If the statement of the mayor is true, I hope for his sake that he included this in his income tax return. Otherwise, he has a lot of explaining to do to (Internal Revenue) Commissioner (Guillermo) Parayno," Bunye said.
He said Mrs. Arroyo will not change her stand on illegal gambling despite the supposedly growing clamor to legalize jueteng.
"We have to stop it. But at the same time, we have to provide alternative livelihood for the little people who might be displaced by the drive," he said.
Lacanilao also faces isolation as other mayors and governors rallied behind President Arroyo in her campaign against jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling.
In an interview with a local radio station, Lacanilao assailed the hypocrisy of the other mayors in Pampanga for issuing a resolution backing the campaign.
Interviewed by The STAR, Lacanilao stood by his statements.
He said a mayor’s monthly salary of P22,000 was not enough to cover the requests of constituents for financial assistance.
He also blamed the government crackdown on jueteng for depriving some 600 families in Apalit of their only livelihood.
Many of the now unemployed jueteng cobradores or bet collectors lack the skills to move on to other jobs since few finished even elementary school, he explained.
Lacanilao said he did not attend the meeting between Mrs. Arroyo and the Pampanga Mayors League at the "White House" at the Clark Special Economic Zone on Thursday because he did not want to be a hypocrite.
He said some of the mayors were receiving the payoffs to cover their future election expenses.
While the issues discussed during the meeting were not revealed to media, the mayors reportedly passed a resolution "strongly supporting" Mrs. Arroyo’s drive against jueteng nationwide.
Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin and Mabalacat, Pampanga Mayor Marino Morales were also reported to have presented a proposal for the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to hire jueteng bet collectors for a legalized "Easy 2" numbers game.
Representatives Anthony Miranda (Isabela) and Rolex Suplico (Iloilo) said moves to legalize jueteng were gaining adherents in Congress and even among Cabinet officials.
Lacanilao said he would support a plan to legalize jueteng, an idea first floated by former president Joseph Estrada.
Once legalized, the operation of the game should be placed in the hands of local governments, which could use the proceeds for their projects, Lacanilao said.
"The local governments must be allowed to operate legalized jueteng autonomously," he said.
Lacanilao said the raffle of the winning numbers should also be held in public to eliminate cheating.