MALASIQUI – Contrary to expectations of jueteng aficionados and cobradores, no Small Town Lottery operation is expected soon in Pangasinan.

The provincial board and the governor are still studying whether or not to give the green light to STL operators.

Vice Governor Oscar Lambino, presiding officer of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, said it’s all up to the provincial board and the governor to allow it.

He, however, believes that the Church will oppose any attempt to start its operations here.

Many mayors and other provincial officials have already expressed envy that other provinces have already launched STL operations.

They lamented that STL could not take off here because Archbishop Oscar Cruz of the Lingayen-Dagupan Archdiocese who is a strong advocate against all forms  of illegal gambling is based in the province.

Lambino said there are some truths to what the bishops, particularly Cruz, say that games of chance breed corruption. But he described STL as  legal based on their inquiry with the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

“Of course the Church will say that not all things legal are moral.

That will take a long debate,” Lambino said.

It may be recalled that the last time the board was supposed to endorse a similar resolution last year, Cruz, chairman of Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng, promptly issued a pastoral letter against the provincial legislators.

Lambino said the matter on STL “is not yet totally closed” since board members are still studying it carefully. He was referring to a  resolution entitled,” Expressing the sense of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan against  the resurgence of any illegal numbers game in Pangasinan and strongly  urging the national government through the 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, John Agerico Rosario and Robert Raymund Estrella. But since the measure is likely to face a rough sailing in the board, it was agreed that it would be referred to a committee hearing.

Lambino added that no deadline was given for its eventual passage and assured that the process “will undergo rigid scrutiny”. — EVA

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