Bishop Cruz: Congressional testimony on jueteng will be his last

While he agreed to testify in Congress on the alleged jueteng payoffs received by some government officials, retired Catholic Archbishop Oscar Cruz said this will be his last and he will no longer attend other probe hearings on the issue. According to an article posted on the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), Cruz, a retired archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan Archdiocese, said in a forum, “With this new Congress, I’m willing to give it a chance but this will be my last and if nothing happens after this then I’ll quit." On Thursday, Davao Rep. Karlo Nograles said Cruz has agreed to identify the officials allegedly receiving monthly payoffs from jueteng operators but only in an executive session. Cruz earlier said two ranking officials of the Aquino administration are receiving monthly payola amounting to as much as P2 million. He initially refused to testify before a congressional investigation, saying the matter is for the executive department, not for the legislative department, to thresh out. The retired archbishop also warned President Benigno Simeon Aquino III that while he may have "clean hands" and has the "moral ascendancy" to govern, the challenge for him is to act on the matter. “This is a test case for the Aquino administration as far as we are concerned. But if jueteng goes on then it’s a big farce for someone elected with the banner of integrity," he said. “I still believe that the President has clean hands and has the moral ascendancy to govern. The challenge is for him to do something about it… come on, do it!" he added. Cruz admitted he was frustrated that nothing happened in the Senate investigation on jueteng in 2005. “Frankly, we already don’t know where to go," he said. He reiterated jueteng is a “social curse" that destroys the government and corrupts the officials. Cruz added that legalization of jueteng will never solve the problem. By its very nature, he said, it has to be operated illegally “because that’s where the big money is." “If they legalize jueteng, I’m certain another form of gambling with maybe a different name but with similar operational structure would surface," he said. On the other hand, he said jueteng allegedly could not thrive in any province without the protection of government officials. –VVP, GMANews.TV