Provincial Board not keen on STL move
HAVING learned its lesson in the past, the provincial board members don’t appear eager and rushed to endorse any gambling measure like the Small Town Lottery (STL) operations in the province this time.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan the other day deferred the discussion of a resolution regarding this numbers game after the local media got wind of the proposal that reached the board, but not after the board members had their longest “one minute recess” trying to determine how it should handle the resolution.
It will be recalled that the last time the board hastily endorsed a similar resolution last year, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz promptly responded with a pastoral letter against the provincial legislators.
The new resolution was entitled, “Expressing the sense of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan against the resurgence of any illegal numbers game in Pangasinan and strongly urging the national government thru the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to institutionalize strict guidelines in its implementation of alternative programs meant to provide livelihood to Pangasinenses displaced by the eradication of illegal number gaming”.
The resolution was jointly authored by Board Members Amadeo Espino, Nestor Reyes, Rosario and Robert Raymund Estrella Jr.
Since the measure is likely to face a rough sail ing in the board, it was agreed that it will be referred to a committee hearing, meaning a longer process.
The bishop might issue again a pastoral letter which will be read during Sunday Masses, one board member who requested not to be identified, said.
On one hand, the resolution reiterated that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan ” consistently maintains that there is no place for illegal gambling in Pangasinan and fully supports all efforts by the national government to eradicate any or all forms of illegal numbers gaming,” but also pointed out that its members “have been besieged with pleas from many of their constituents for alternative employment of livelihood opportunities for the thousands who used to depend thereon.”The resolution then expresses support for the PCSO’s intended program expected to be generated from “the experimental operation of legal gaming.”-EVA
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