Filtered By: Topstories
News

Robredo to submit anti-jueteng ‘game plan’ to Aquino next week


Acting Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo will submit to Malacañang a “game plan" against the popular illegal numbers game jueteng in the coming days following revelations by a retired bishop that some officials in the Aquino government are receiving monthly payola from it. “Wala pa kami sa stage na puro (We’re not yet into) specifics. Pero (but) we assure the public that we will come up with a game plan if not by Friday, maybe by Monday next week," Robredo told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. Retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a staunch anti-gambling crusader, said several officials in the Aquino administration are protecting jueteng operators and receiving at least P2 million from them every month. The disclosure prompted President Benigno Aquino III to order Robredo to craft a comprehensive plan against jueteng. Robredo said he has submitted recommendations to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) on how to strengthen small town lottery (STL) operations, which the government has been promoting as an alternative to jueteng. “I’ve met several times PCSO chairperson Margarita Juico and submitted to her a number of recommendations to further reinforce the existing policies on the STL project," said Robredo, a former Naga City mayor and a Ramon Magsaysay awardee.


Robredo said “new developments" in their recommendations would be incorporated in the game plan against jueteng. Among the recommendations that Robredo had given to the PCSO in July were: - amendment of STL franchising scheme; - STL should be operated following the traditional methodology of jueteng operations; - the minimum prize money will be equivalent to the jueteng winnings; - the monitring of actual STL gross sales; - amendment of the STL charity fund percentage sharing scheme; - Authorized Agent Corporations (AACs) shall be given a fixed monthly “presumptive gross sales." Doomed On the law enforcement aspect, police units nationwide will be required to submit to the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief weekly updates on their anti-jueteng operations like the arrest of gambling lords and confiscation of jueteng paraphernalia. “I have also ordered the PNP to validate reports that the operation of small-town lottery is being used as front for the illegal numbers game," Robredo said. He said the revitalized program against the illegal numbers game would be aimed at intensifying police forces across the country. He however admitted that the about 3,000 policemen that are expected to be hired next year might still be not enough. “It’s still too small a number for so large of an operation," said Robredo. At a press conference at Camp Crame on Tuesday, President Aquino said the STL project does not seem to lure bettors away from jueteng. “My information is that it was designed primarily to stop jueteng but instead of supplanting it, [the STL] is doomed to fail," he said. He said there would be no use in collaring bet collectors and bettors if the jueteng operators and gambling lords are not arrested. “The principals remain untouched. So after mag-lie-low, balik na naman sila (After lying low for a while, they would continue with their operations)," the President said. Meeting with Cruz Robredo said he would also schedule a meeting early next week with Cruz regarding his exposè. He said he spoke with Cruz last month but the retired prelate was not able to identify the officials he is accusing of benefiting from jueteng payola. “Kailangan talagang i-validate ang sinasabi niya at makakuha ng dagdag na information (There is really a need to validate his claim and get additional information)," Robredo said. Robredo said anti-jueteng operations should no longer be a government effort but should already involve the participation of the community, from religious leaders, villagers, and non-government organizations. Swamped with work While stressing the importance of putting a priority on stamping out jueteng, Robredo also admitted he was being swamped with other responsibilities, especially in the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC), the inter-agency body looking into the August 23 hostage tragedy in Manila. In the same interview, Robredo also clarified that he has not yet recommended to the President the revival of the one-strike policy implemented under the term of Sen. Panfilo Lacson when he was still chief of the PNP. “We are not discounting Sen. Lacson’s policy, but it is still too early to say that we would like to adopt it," Robredo said. Robredo also believed that his detractors, especially those who he thinks would be adversely affected by his anti-jueteng drive, had been capitalizing on the flak that the Department of Interior and Local Government has been receiving for the botched police operation on the August 23 bloody hostage crisis at the Quirino Grandstand in ths historic Luneta Park. “Talagang nakiki-angkas sila. Pero kapag lumabas talaga ang katotohanan, tsaka ako tatahimik. Kasi their agenda is not really just about Luneta," he said. (My critics are really capitalizing on the hostage tragedy. I will only be silent once the truth comes out. Their agenda is not really about Luneta.) Robredo belongs to the Kaya Natin Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership, which also includes as members former Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca and former Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio. The three are known anti-jueteng advocates. — KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV
LOADING CONTENT