Mayor Vi may run against brod-in-law to stamp out jueteng in Batangas

It’s the need to stamp out jueteng (illegal numbers game) in Batangas that may convince award-winning actress and Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos to challenge her own brother-in law and the incumbent governor in the May 14 polls, her husband Sen. Ralph Recto said yesterday.

"If Vilma becomes governor, Batangas will be jueteng free," Recto said in a text message to The STAR. Recto’s message came in the wake of Santos’ televised pronouncement that she was willing to sacrifice and let her brother-in-law Ricky challenge Gov. Arman Sanchez in the May 14 polls. Critics have accused Sanchez of protecting jueteng operations in the province.

Recto also denied allegations by some members of an anti-jueteng group led by Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz that he wanted suspected Pampanga jueteng operator Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda – reportedly a friend – to take over the illegal numbers game operations in Batangas in the event of Santos’ victory in the elections.

Members of Kabalikat ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng or KBLJ said they would wait for the right moment to reveal more details for fear of reprisal.

Pineda’s wife Lilia is running for governor in Pampanga under the pro-administration Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) against Gov. Mark Lapid of Lakas-CMD which is also pro-administration.

"It’s the handiwork of the opposition," Recto said, adding that he has "never met Bong Pineda."

KBLJ organizers in Pampanga said there was something suspicious about Recto’s repeated trumpeting of Mrs. Pineda’s possibly becoming the province’s "first female governor." Recto made his open endorsement of Mrs. Pineda during last week’s Team Unity proclamation rally in the province, in the presence of the incumbent governor. Pampanga elected in the 1970s its first female governor, Juanita Nepomuceno.

It was in the same political rally where Recto also announced Santos’ planned candidacy for governor. "People don’t want my brother," he added. He also denied that the Pinedas contributed to the campaign kitty of Team Unity.

Archbishop Cruz earlier said jueteng operators in Batangas had Sanchez’s blessing. Central Luzon police Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan, for his part, denied the group’s allegations that jueteng is still active in the region saying critics might have mistaken the activities of "bookies" or bet collectors for a full-blown jueteng operation.