Stamp out jueteng
WHILE
the provincial police chief was telling everyone that there was no
jueteng in Calabanga and Buhi, text messages from concerned
citizens were being received by Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo
about the winning numbers in Calabanga: 36-36, 21-24, and 24-13
for the three draws last Jan. 10, 2006; 5-33, 16-16, and 10-36
last Jan. 11, and; 19-16, 4-33 last Jan. 12. In Buhi town, the
jackpot numbers were 20-19, 16-33, and 24-09 last Jan. 12, and;
6-28, 37-6 for Jan. 13.
Responding to the city mayor’s warning that jueteng has once again
reared it ugly head, Camarines Sur Provincial Director P/Sr. Supt.
Romeo Mapalo last Jan. 13 strongly denied through his letter to
the mayor that jueteng existed in the two towns: “On what credible
proof, beyond reasonable doubt, can you (Robredo) claim knowledge
of the existence of supposed jueteng in Calabanga and Buhi, when
you are not the mayor of said municipalities?”
Still, Mapalo lectured the mayor: “Frankly, your irresponsible
JUDGEMENTAL ATTITUDE (capital letters supplied by Mapalo) should
be changed to a more “wise and mature” attitude of a leader.
Proper intelligence, good police work to properly bring a case to
court are the hallmarks of effective service.”
And the mayor shot back: “That’s exactly the reason I had been
forwarding the winning numbers to your (Mapalo’s) goodself, to
pass on a possible starting point for your own spadework.”
Robredo went on: “The truth of the matter is that jueteng is
recurrent local news in Camarines Sur since late last year… it was
featured in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (“Jueteng on holiday
binge in Bicol” – Jan. 4, 2006) and the Manila Times (“Jueteng
comeback worries Palace” – Jan. 8, 2006). In other words, there
may be no proof beyond reasonable doubt that jueteng is here but
given the available information, reasonable men will conclude that
jueteng is indeed back and operating with impunity in Camarines
Sur. If the palace is worried, more so should the PNP local
command.
Betraying his unclear stand on the illegal numbers game, Mapalo
disclosed he has reports about displaced “kubradores” (bet
collectors) turning to drug pushing, robberies, and that “the most
desperate ones have been recruited by the NPA and the Jemiah
Islamiyah/Balik Islam terrorist cells.”
Taking that as an excuse for the PNP’s inability to stop jueteng,
Robredo cautioned Mapalo that just as economic dislocation cannot
be an excuse, so too is the oft-repeated claim that jueteng had
been with us since the Spanish times. “If it is against the law,
whatever its roots, it must be stamped out,” the mayor stressed.
He expressed confidence though that Mapalo would cease from using
such “historical footnote” as another excuse for the presence of
jueteng in Camarines Sur.
In closing, the mayor invited the provincial police chief to the
forthcoming “Pagkasararo Laban sa Jueteng” to be held here in Naga
City this Saturday, on Jan. 21, with no less than Monsignor Oscar
Cruz, Archbishop of Dagupan-Lingayen and head of the “Krusada ng
Bayan Laban sa Jueteng, as guest of honor.
Indeed, it will be a good idea for Mapalo to honor the invitation.
On that occasion, the police chief and the city mayor will set
naiveté aside and pledge to work together against their common
enemy: jueteng operators whose strength comes from corrupt
political leaders and police officers.
