Lacson dared to prove jueteng funding GMA bets

Team Unity dared yesterday re-electionist opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson to prove his allegations that part of the administration slate’s campaign funds came from illegal gambling operations.

The administration senatorial team slammed Lacson for making the allegations, which they said could be part of his "imagination."

Team Unity spokesman Ace Durano said Lacson should not make the "fictional" accusation without basis or evidence.

"I think it’s best... that we really stick to facts, let’s dissect facts and let’s just leave these fictional allegations to the imagination of whoever is creating all of it," Durano said.

Administration senatorial candidate, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson branded Lacson a liar.

Singson, a former close associate of deposed President Joseph Estrada, had admitted involvement in jueteng operations. But he stressed that after he testified against Estrada in the plunder case, he ordered a stop to all forms of illegal gambling in his province.

Other administration senatorial candidates said they would rather that Lacson explain his allegations and elaborate where the supposed illegal funds are coming from.

Earlier, Team Unity bet Ralph Recto said they would not accept financial help from President Arroyo’s most controversial supporter in Pampanga, pointing to gubernatorial candidate and board member Lilia Pineda, wife of suspected gambling lord Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda.

Recto said the Pinedas were busy with their own political plans to bother about giving campaign funds to Mrs. Arroyo’s supporters.

Bong Pineda was said to have dangled cash to local officials in exchange for their support for Mrs. Arroyo’s presidential bid in 2004.

Lacson earlier alleged getting information that "jueteng money is finding its way into the coffers of Team Unity."

He said jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling are flourishing anew to enable the administration and its allies to raise campaign funds.

Lacson, a former national police chief, said gambling lords are operating under the very nose of the police in the Bicol region and Central Luzon.

Police officers and policemen are turning a blind eye because they know that these are election-related fund raising activities, he said.

Lacson had a meeting with Sen. Lito Lapid in Pampanga before proceeding to Pangasinan for a meeting with anti-jueteng crusader Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz.

The Lapids hosted Team Unity candidates on Monday, though Mrs. Arroyo did not endorse the re-election bid of Gov. Mark Lapid, who is running against Mrs. Pineda.

The Pinedas and Mrs. Arroyo’s father, the late President Diosdado Macapagal, hail from Lubao, Pampanga. Mrs. Pineda was its former town mayor.

Lacson claimed it is clear that jueteng money was used in Monday’s Team Unity activities in Mrs. Arroyo’s home province.

According to Lacson, he would get more information about the administration’s fund raising operations from Cruz.

Lacson and Cruz collaborated during the Senate inquiry into jueteng and illegal gambling activities.

Cruz had taken under his protection several witnesses who had alleged the Arroyos were receiving monthly payoffs from illegal gambling. The Arroyos denied the allegations.

Cruz claimed local officials and other administration allies were raising funds from jueteng activities. He claimed daily jueteng lotteries have increased from two to four times a day as the elections draw near.

The color of money

Administration allies also dared Lacson to reveal the financial sources of his campaign.

According to Davao del Sur Rep. Douglas Cagas and Bohol Rep. Eladio Jala, Lacson’s fellow senatorial candidates in the Genuine Opposition (GO) are green with envy over the well-oiled and well-financed machinery of the opposition senator.

Cagas and Jala also claimed Lacson made a desperate attempt to gain media mileage by accusing Team Unity bets of using jueteng money to bankroll their campaign.

Cagas said Lacson made a very serious allegation that is tantamount to accusing someone of committing a crime.

But he dismissed Lacson’s latest tirade as "chismis pang beauty parlor."Cagas in turn asked Lacson to shed light on reports made by the US Department of Justice in 2003 that the senator owned real properties in the US and other assets.

Jala, for his part, said Lacson wanted to get the attention of the administration’s campaign donors "hoping he can get a piece of the pie." – With Christina Mendez