No stopping Jai-alai
WERE the jai-alai betting stations around the province still legally operating as of last Friday?
The provincial police did not know and in their uncertainty, chose to simply keep the status quo.
The 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Court of Appeals against the closure of jai-alai betting stations by Meredien Vista Gaming Corporation (MVGC) outside the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) expired last Thursday and if no extension was made, the police would have had the authority to stop the operations.
As of Friday, solicitation and collections of bets were still ongoing.
Police Regional Director Franklin Bucayo said his office has not received guidance from the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters as to whether the TRO had been extended or not.
The TRO, issued July 22, restrained the PNP and all its agents from stopping the operation of 41 off-fronton stations in 35 towns and cities of Pangasinan established by MVGC in April this year based on permits issued by municipal and city mayors.
In early August, the Department of Justice and the Department of Interior and Local Government ordered a stop to all jai-alai off-fronton stations outside CEZA, where MVGC holds a franchise to operate. MVGC filed a case before the Court of Appeals, which then issued the TRO.
Senior Superintendent Rosueto Ricaforte, Pangasinan police provincial director, earlier said the jai-alai betting operations were legal based on the mayor’s permits and later because of the TRO.
JUETENG FRONT
There were numerous reports that the jai-alai stations were merely being used as a front for the illegal numbers game jueteng, which the police and the provincial government have been claiming to have been stopped in Pangasinan.
People in the communities confirm that the winning numbers vary from town to town and three draws are held daily, which is how jueteng works.
In jai-alai, on the other hand, there should only be one draw per day and one winning number based on the result of the jai-alai game played in Cagayan.
Further there are reports that the number bets being collected for jai-alai go all the way up to 37, just as in jueteng, when there should only be 10 for jai-alai.
MVGC is reportedly owned by Charlie Atong Ang, a known gambling associate of former President Joseph Estrada.
ARENAS
Meanwhile, 3rd District Rep. Rachel Arenas denied reports that she is involved in the jai-alai operations in Pangasinan because of her association with Ang.
Ang attended Arenas’ birthday party in her home in Malasiqui in 2008.
Arenas, speaking during the Media in Action forum of the Pangasinan Press Club on Friday, admitted that she is not aware that the jai-alai betting stations are reportedly being used as a front for jueteng, which she said she is opposed to.
She stressed that she and the other three congresswomen from Pangasinan, Gina de Venecia of the Fourth District, Kimi Cojuangco of the Fifth and Marlin Primicias of the Sixth, are committed to support President Benigno Aquino III in his policy against illegal gambling and promoting the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes’ Loterya ng Bayan.
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