GMA benefits from jueteng, says Archbishop Oscar Cruz
It is not true that he has turned his back on his crusade against jueteng and is now focused on the current GMA resign movement.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said his active participation in the calls for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign is very much a part of his anti-jueteng campaign.
“The present administration tolerates and benefits from gambling and jueteng money,” he intoned.
Cruz, chairman of the Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng and Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Sugal, conceded that the crusade against the illegal numbers game has not succeeded but they are not giving up on the cause.
“No, no, we have not succeeded, we just disturb it every now and then the police conducting raids every now and then,” but the “fight against jueteng goes on albeit on another sphere”, he added.
He said the advocacy against jueteng remains “and because jueteng is identified with this administration, I’m also joining movements that are anti- administration.”
The outspoken archbishop said he intends to write Philippine National Police Chief Director Genereal Avelino Razon again to remind him of his pledge to intensify the campaign against jueteng and other forms of illegal numbers games.
Razon, in his reply letter to Cruz dated Oct. 15, 2007, told Cruz that “under my watch, the Philippine National Police shall fully support your advocacy against the continued proliferation of illegal numbers game in the country. The PNP joins you in your crusade to pursue a ‘Jueteng-Free Philippines.’
But Cruz believes that jueteng will persist under the Arroyo government because the local government officials behind it have become “untouchables” in its effort to keep their support in the face of growing opposition and protests.
Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez, police provincial director, told The PUNCH that the order of Gov. Amado Espino Jr. against all forms of illegal gambling remains strong and in effect.
He said their raids are unrelenting, citing that from January to date, 38 anti-jueteng police operations were conducted resulting in the arrest and prosecution of 82 bet collectors/employees, the confiscation of almost P25,000 in bet money. #
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