Cruz asks Espino to state his position on jueteng
Are you or are you not against jueteng?
This was the question posed by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, chairman of the Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng (People’s Crusade Against Jueteng), to Governor Amado Espino Jr. as he urged the latter to clearly state his stand on the illegal numbers game jueteng.
Espino, for his part, shrugged off the challenge and merely stressed that he has a standing order to Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez, the provincial director, as well as the police chiefs in the province, to intensify their drive against this long-standing gambling issue.
Cruz earlier said that in the fight against jueteng “Walang (No) mestizo. It’s either yes or no”.
“Isang salitang maliwanag and hopefully maliwanag na mawawala yan (One clear statement and clearly it will stop),” the outspoken archbishop said in reaction to reports that jueteng continues to operate in some parts of the province.
“Governor Espino is a strongman. If he says no, it will stop,” he added.
The governor, reiterated in a separate interview with The PUNCH, that in the towns of Bautista, where his son Amado Espino III is the mayor, as well as Agno, Anda, San Fabian, Sta. Barbara, Sison, and Alaminos City, there are no jueteng operations.
“I need time to totally stop this,” he said.
Espino said while he is doing his best to stop it, history is proof that the task is nearly impossible.
The governor blamed dirty politics to be behind the renewed efforts to revive the jueteng issue.
NEREZ SPEAKS
Meanwhile, Nerez said it is not true that jueteng operations in the province have worsened.
“Whoever said does not really know the true picture in the province,” Nerez said in an interview with The PUNCH.
He maintained that there is no organized jueteng operation in the province and raids are conducted daily.
He said efforts to eradicate illegal gambling in the province continue to be intensified and cited the continued confiscation and destruction of video machines, considered as poor man’s slot machines, in the province.
Nerez said that while the police are working under clear guidelines from the governor, the fight against jueteng will not succeed without full support from the communities.
Among the congressional representatives in Pangasinan, only 3rd District Rep. Rachel Arenas has publicly announced she is against this illegal numbers game and has likewise called on the people to help the fight against jueteng.
Meanwhile, Second District Board Member Von Mark Mendoza has come to the defense of Espino.
In a privileged speech during the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Monday, Mendoza said, “These allegations that were dignified by a national newspaper in carrying them in its pages should be investigated for what they are-un supported claims, vicious lies and clear news slant to favor the past Agbayani administration.”
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