3 more local execs deny links to jueteng operations

Three local government officials from Northern and Central Luzon on Tuesday denied links to jueteng operations in their respective areas after they were identified as “jueteng lords" in Tuesday's Senate committee hearing. Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan said he could not possibly coddle jueteng operators in his area, since he does not even know how to play the illegal numbers game. “Even up to this day, nilalabanan natin ang sugal, kahit anong klaseng sugal (we continue to oppose gambling, all kinds of gambling)," he said in an interview aired over GMA News’ “24 Oras" on Tuesday.
Domogan added that he is willing to undergo a lifestyle check just to be able to clear his name. The Baguio City mayor was tagged by retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz during Tuesday’s Senate blue ribbon committee hearing as one of the local government officials allegedly benefiting from the illegal numbers game. (See: Puno, Verzosa, other gov't execs tagged in jueteng mess) Cruz likewise identified Interior Undersecretary Rico Escalona Puno and former National Police chief Jesus Verzosa as jueteng payola recipients. Isabela Rep. Napoleon Dy, also accused by Cruz as a “jueteng lord," meanwhile said the retired archbishop can even visit his district to check if jueteng operations still take place there. “Gusto ko nga imbitahan si Archbishop Cruz na pumunta sa probinsya. Tingnan niya ang operations doon kung ito ba ay small town lottery o jueteng," he said in a separate television interview. (I’d even invite Archbishop Cruz to visit the province. Then he can see for himself whether the operations there are for small town lottery or for jueteng.) Pangasinan Governor Amado Espino Jr., for his part, declined to comment on the issue, but an official from the provincial government’s public information office (PIO) dismissed Cruz’s accusations as a “lie." “It is a pure lie. It is unfortunate coming from a former archbishop," Butch Velasco of Pangasinan’s PIO said. Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda, another alleged “jueteng lord," also earlier said that she is willing to face the Senate probe on the jueteng issue. (See: Pampanga gov ready to face Senate probe on jueteng payola)—Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV