MANILA, Philippines - Amid allegations that some dioceses are receiving donations from illegal gambling operators, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said it cannot impose sanctions on bishops accepting such donations.
In an interview with Church-run Radio Veritas, CBCP media office director Msgr. Pedro Quitorio said the Church can only remind bishops to refrain from accepting donations believed to have come from the illegal numbers game jueteng.
“A diocese or a bishop is independent. We cannot sanction an independent Catholic institution. We can only remind our members not to accept any donation from illegal gambling,” Quitorio said.
Last week, retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz alleged that at least eight dioceses in Luzon and Visayas are receiving donations from jueteng operators but did not identify the dioceses.
In 2005, the CBCP issued a pastoral letter telling members of the clergy to “refrain from receiving funds from illegal and legal gambling.”
In an interview yesterday, Cruz still declined to identify the dioceses but urged his fellow bishops to report the illegal gambling situation in their respective dioceses.
“If the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines per se would like really to have a positive impact on this matter, then all of them should somehow come out in the open and tell what they know about gambling in their respective jurisdictions and also, if they wish, name names because they know the names,” Cruz told reporters.
He said Church officials should follow the example of Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto who publicly admitted that some of his priests were receiving money from jueteng and that some of them even traveled to Hong Kong.
“(But) Aniceto would never name names. He would not hurt people,” Cruz said.
Cruz is expected to appear before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee today to attend a hearing on jueteng operations in the country.
“I will be going there alone, without a lawyer and no security. Whatever they would ask, I would answer for as long as I know the answer,” he said.
Cruz would request an executive session for the sensitive questions. Also invited are Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno, Philippine National Police chief Raul Bacalzo, P/C Superintendent Orlando Mabutas, P/C Supt. Alan La Madrid Purisima, P/C Supt. Nicanor Bartolome and P/C Supt. Artemio Hiban. Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Special Project manager Romualdo Quiñones was also invited to discuss the Small Town Lottery game created to eradicate jueteng.
Education against illegal gambling
A lawmaker representing a party-list group against corruption said the Department of Education (DepEd) should include in the school curriculum the disadvantages of illegal gambling.
You Against Corruption and Poverty (YACAP) Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez proposed that the DepEd include lessons against gambling in the values education subjects in elementary and high school.
“This early, we must tell children that there is no real hope in gambling either as a livelihood or a pastime and that the P37 billion made from it does not really trickle down to the poor in terms of winnings or job-generation. We must tell them that illegal gambling only oppresses the poor as it corrupts society financially and morally,” she said. – With Evelyn Macairan, Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, meanwhile, called on the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to crack down on all kinds of illegal numbers game in the country. “Other types of illegal gambling are rampant in the Visayas and Mindanao, including masiao, last-two and daily-double. Obviously the PNP must work double time to put a dent in the jueteng racket,” Evardone said. He noted that even legal gambling games have become the basis for new illegal numbers games.
The game “swertres” by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office became the foundation for “masiao” played in the Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao and Caraga. The legal Small Town Lottery game became the basis for the illegal numbers game “daily double,” “first two” and “last two” popular in Western Viayas.
The game “Lotteng,” popular in Catanduanes, is based on the first two numbers of the daily lotto draw. - With Evelyn Macairan, Christina Mendez, Paolo Romero