DAGUPAN CITY – One Oscar, a man in uniform, promised to stop jueteng in Luzon by the end of this month. But another Oscar, a man of cloth, doubts it could be done without the blessings of the “big boss”.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz cheered the recent pronouncement of Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Calderon declaring his resolve to stop jueteng this month.  Based on what he had already witnessed, the archbishop reminded the PNP chief that unless he has the approval and blessing of the national leadership, he really cannot “totally stop jueteng in the country”.

The Senate Inquiry on Jueteng amply demonstrated this preferred status of  jueteng in the country, Cruz, chairman of Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng (Crusade Against Jueteng), said.

“He should also by now aware that most of those corporate entities running the STL (small town lottery) are the  jueteng capitalists themselves using the jueteng structure to collect STL bets,” he added.

Applauding the police general’s statements, the archbishop said he realizes that just as drug money runs the elections in certain Latin American countries, jueteng money runs much of the elections in this country, and warned the PNP chief’s attention of  the pattern established for its “stop-and-go” operations particularly during election period.

Cruz said jueteng was totally stopped for two months or so before the 2004 National Elections “but jueteng returned with a vengeance”.  According to him, the temporary cessation was simply an occasion for negotiation “and agree upon how much payolas go to whom and when-in anticipation of the projected election campaign expenses,” he said. – EVA

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