Cagayan Valley gambling lords defy police crackdown
The Manila Times 04/28/2005
SANTIAGO CITY: Bishop Sergio Utleg of Ilagan
lamented that gambling lords continued to operate jueteng in his
episcopate and other parts of Cagayan Valley with impunity although
the Philippine National Police leadership has ordered a crackdown on
the illegal numbers game.
Utleg also dismissed as “unthinkable or
misleading” claims that Isabela is now “jueteng-free” and said
that jueteng in Isabela appeared to be unstoppable.
“Any form of illegal gambling particularly
jueteng is a big source of corruption. In some Luzon provinces,
including Isabela, jueteng is unstoppable,” Utleg said, adding
that all clergymen in his diocese will soon meet to discuss how to
stop illegal gambling in the episcopate.
At the same time, Bishop Ramon Villena of
Bayombong urged President Arroyo anew to make a strong stand against
illegal gambling like her all-out war on terrorism.
“A strong republic must have a strong leader.
The jueteng issue had caused the downfall of an elected president. A
repetition of this would place our country once more a laughingstock
in the international community,” he said.
Villena said he will consult with Utleg and
Archbishop Diosdado Talamayan of Tuguegarao City in Cagayan to come
up with strong and united stand against the proliferation of illegal
gambling in Cagayan Valley region.
But gambling lords continued to operate in the
region despite the order to crackdown on the illegal numbers game.
Sources told The Manila Times that gambling
lords in Isabela did not even bother to scale-down their operations
to the so-called guerilla type. Instead, the operations that are
supposedly being managed by a certain Calauag in cooperation with
the brothers of ranking provincial officials continue at full
throttle.
In Nueva Vizcaya, gambling lords scaled down
their operations, but they had three draws on Wednesday. Among the
gambling bosses in Nueva Vizcaya is a certain Alex from Calamaniugan,
who is supposedly protected by a retired police official.
In Cagayan, jueteng operators, led by a certain
Espiritu, scaled down operations to the “guerrilla” level but
they also held three draws on Wednesday. Espiritu is also allegedly
protected by a retired police official.
Sources said residents were surprised by news
reports that there was no jueteng in Cagayan Valley and residents
are awed at the “influence” of gambling lords in the region.
“Ang lakas talaga nila [They are really influential],” said one
Isabela resident.
The sources said the recent exposé claiming
that certain high government officials were protecting and profiting
from jueteng operations across the country was instigated by a
retired police official who is still profiting from jueteng.
The source said Cagayan Valley was not included
on the list of jueteng areas in the country so that the retired
police official, who hails from Cagayan Valley, would not be
embarrassed by the exposé and so that jueteng operations in the
region would continue undisturbed.
