Letters to the Editor
Letters to the
editor are welcome on this page. Only those with complete name,
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shall be considered for publication, subject to editing and space
limitation when necessary - Editor-in-Chief.
Stop greed
The reported resurgence of the illegal numbers game (jueteng) at
least in some parts of Bicol (Jan. 23) confirms the old perception
that human greed – over “easy” money - is hard to do away with.
But, with sustained efforts by the proper authorities tasked with
providing basic services for the people and enforcing the law
against anything unlawful, jueteng, like corruption, cannot - or
should not - remain unstoppable.
The government has to do a lot more than flexing political muscles
to dismantle the very structure – poverty, joblessness and the
culture of greed - that nurtures suckers to this game of chance or
deceit. It should relentlessly pursue its campaign against
corruption and bring crooks, big-time or not, swiftly to justice
to keep them or their ilk from further robbing the people blind
and giving the poor no “easier” option than trying their “luck” on
lotteries. For their part, our squabbling politicians should
convert their “pork barrel” into vital infrastructures (sans
kickbacks, please) such as farm-to-market roads, irrigation
systems and factories expected to generate alternative livelihood
for the townsfolk, if only to keep them from betting their future
on jueteng or some odd jobs elsewhere in the world.
Having proposed all that, the illegal gambling menace may continue
to threaten our moral sensibility as a people until greed is
contained. Take away greed from the dregs of society among whom
looted or pay off money change hands, and jueteng, like
corruption, will eventually stop. If this isn’t necessarily or
possibly so, then the law, however harsh, has to be enforced.
For one, the government’s “one-strike” policy against erring
public officials, particularly law enforcers, found to be
involved, overtly or otherwise, in the numbers game racket, should
“strike” fear in the hearts of wrongdoers, instead of being
brandished as mere “ningas cogon” or farce. It should result in
the arrest, incarceration and, as applicable, dismissal from
service, of jueteng financiers, collectors and their protectors,
be they powerful or not. And to help nail down the “big fish”, the
proper authorities should start checking on the profligate
lifestyles and fat bank accounts of the suspects who, for all we
know, could be just out there changing their SUV’s (the way they
change their wardrobes?) or flying over to Las Vegas (as frequent
as they go to comfort rooms?).
Stop jueteng?
We have to “stop being greedy”. And stop gambling away for
personal gain the dwindling resources for economic and moral
survival of the poor, the weak, the exploited and the gullible in
our midst!
MANUEL A. COLLAO
via e-mail
