Jueteng taking a low profile for the moment

Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz of Lingayen, Pangasinan agrees with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that jueteng operations all over the country have been greatly marginalized as a result of the government’s relentless drive against the illegal numbers game. This clearly means that jueteng can be minimized. Eradicating it totally, however, is another matter. In our opinion that can only be done if and when jueteng operators are identified, arrested, prosecuted and jailed. When we say jueteng operators, we mean the people behind the illegal numbers game are identified, arrested, prosecuted and jailed including high government officials and police authorities who tolerate, promote, protect and are really part of the jueteng operation.

There is a saying that he who is silent in the face of injustice is an accomplish. Government officials and policemen who are in the jueteng payroll are actually partners in crime.

It will be a great achievement if the Arroyo administration can totally eliminate jueteng during its term. As we said, we will know when this is happening, not when jueteng activities decrease but when criminals behind the jueteng operation are literally jailed. As long as no big jueteng operator has been identified, charged and imprisoned, then the conclusion is not only does jueteng still exist, it pays.

What we cannot figure out is the fact that practically any ordinary individual who wants to gamble on jueteng can find a source to place his bet, but the people cannot detect the sources. The truth is that some policemen are part of the operation. So to eliminate jueteng, the main job of the police force is to identify the members of the police force that should actually be arrested, prosecuted and jailed instead of continuing to be members of the police force. We have yet to see this happen even once. Till this happens, all these talk about eliminating jueteng is just talk.

Incidentally, jueteng is not the only form of illegal numbers game in the country. Masiao, loteng and letreng also exist. The last two are generally found in Visayas and Mindanao.

The worst part about jueteng is that it is common know-ledge that it is a major source of funding elections. In short, it is highly politicized. How can many of our elected officials be expected to do something about jueteng when they owe their very existence to jueteng? And the truth is that many people have no jobs, so they survive by being part of the jueteng operation. It is obvious, therefore, that one of the most effective ways of eliminating jueteng is to create jobs for the people. This is easier said than done.