More govt officials involved in jueteng mess, says whistleblower

Another whistleblower on jueteng said many more people who are involved in the controversy over the illegal numbers game but were not included in the list that retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz gave to the Senate. Sandra Cam said she knows the other persons involved in jueteng because of her sources and her personal knowledge about the illegal numbers game, having been involved in it in the past. "I’ve been there. Marumi po ako (I am dirty), you won't be a whistblower if you are clean on jueteng... and I still receive many information especially from the Philippine National Police (PNP)," she said after attending a hearing of the Senate committee on justice. Cam is a member of the Whistle-blowers Association, a group of witnesses who have testified in several investigations on various scandals that have hounded the Arroyo administration Cam confessed that she used to be involved in the gambling racket but has already become an advocate of an anti-gambling group founded by Cruz. On Tuesday, Cruz tagged Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno and retired Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa in the jueteng mess, claiming that they were recipients of jueteng payola or payoffs. However, Cam refused to divulge the names of those supposedly involved in jueteng operations but were not mentioned by Cruz. "Ayoko na magsalita, wala nga akong security, wag ninyo naman akong ipapatay (That list is incomplete, but I don't want to say anything else because I have no security, don't endanger my life)," she said. Cam said her sources say that Puno and Versoza might be really involved in the illegal numbers game. "Many (of my sources) are texting me on his (Puno) involvement and Verzosa," she said. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, however, said that Cruz's list is just "hearsay." "That document is hearsay. We have not asked the good bishop where he got his infrormation," Enrile said in a separate interview. He likewise said that the others mentioned by Cruz, like Pampanga Governor Baby Pineda, have already been suspected of being jueteng lords in the past, making the revelation nothing new. Death threats Cam said she and fellow whistleblowers Jose Barredo, Jr., and former Army technical sergeant Vidal Doble have been receiving death threats, which prompted them to buy .45-caliber guns. "I received three calls without number, it's a private number and it's in English, a man told me 'be careful of your statement baka mapangalawa ka kay Boy Mayor (or else you will end up like Boy Mayor)'," she said. "We bought guns last week para makaputok man lang kami, di tulad nung kay Boy Mayor na talagang tinadtad sya (so that we will be able to defend ourselves, unlike what happened to Boy Mayor)," she added. Wilfredo "Boy" Mayor is the jueteng whistle-blower who was gunned down by motorcycle-riding men in southern Metro Manila earlier this year. Like Mayor, Cam also testified before the Senate on payoffs from jueteng. She linked members of the Arroyo family to the payoffs but the Arroyos have denied the claims. On the other hand, Doble was the one who released the controversial "Hello Garci" wiretapped conversations in June 2005 while Barredo was the one who faced the Senate on the P728-million fertilizer fund scam. Whistleblower protection Cam said Doble has requested the Department of Justice (DOJ) to be place him under the witness protection program, in anticipation that he would be summoned by the Truth Commission. The Truth Commission is tasked to investigate the supposed anomalies during the Arroyo administration, which include the Hello Garci controversy and fertilizer fund scam. After two months, however, Cam said Doble's application is still under consideration. The DOJ said that there are about 600 witnesses currently under their protection. During the Senate justice committee hearing on Wednesday, Senator Francis Escudero said they plan on crafting a bill that would let the whistleblowers choose where they would want to avail security. He said among the government agencies that may be considered are the DOJ, Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Public Attorney's Office (PAO), and the Office of the Ombudsman. "Mamili kayo kung saan kayo komportable (You an choose where you are most comfortable)," he said during the hearing. Cam said she would prefer that the whistblowers be placed under the protection of the PAO. "Sa DOJ ngayon nawawala na talaga kami ng gana (We have lost our faith in the DOJ)," she said. Aquino asked to fire officials Upon his return from the United States, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III should fire at least three provincial commanders and suspend at least three governors involved in jueteng, a veteran lawmaker said on Wednesday. “If the President is serious, by the time he arrives from the US, he fires three provincial commanders and suspends three governors who are involved, walang jueteng ng anim na buwan," Sorsogon Rep. Salvador Escudero said during the House appropriations committee hearing on the P4.49 billion proposed 2011 budget of the Commission on Audit (COA). He said setting an example, particularly in the fight against graft and corruption, is very important in the government and COA chairman Reynaldo Villar agreed with him on this. “I agree with that observation 100 percent. And one very clear-cut example is the issue of jueteng. If the President is really serious in stamping out jueteng once and for all, he can immediately issue an order to stop jueteng all over the country and it will be followed," Villar said. Escudero believed that the operation of jueteng is really simple. “Kung gusto ng governor at provincial commander na magka jueteng, may jueteng. Maski ayaw ng president, kung gusto ng governor, ayaw ng provincial commander or vice versa, may jueteng pa rin pero guerrilla. Kung gusto ng gov at provincial commander lantaran ang jueteng. It's a simple as that," the lawmaker said. He expressed surprise why the Bicol region was not included in the list provided by retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz. “I come from a region where jueteng is a daily bread. I’m surprised why the bishop has not reached the Bicol region in his enumeration of officials," he said. The lawmaker said the Filipino people appreciate sampling and jueteng could be stopped even for only six months. “It might be good only for six months kasi ang Filipino iba tayo, di ko alam kung bakit ganun ang utak natin. Sasabihin ng Pinoy lilipas din yan, some claim that jueteng is too small na patulan ng oresidente, but no it's very damaging. It's very damaging. Escudero agreed that jueteng should be legalized but his efforts and the bills he filed in the 10th and 11th Congress for it did not prosper due to the opposition from the Church. On the other hand, Against Corruption and Poverty (YACAP) Rep. Carol Jayne Lopez revealed an upsurge in the activities of jueteng operators as some barangay officials and candidates all over the country scramble to raise campaign funds reaching up to a million each to increase their chances of winning in the October 25 polls. In a press statement, she said her party list group volunteers as well as that of other anti-graft groups told her that jueteng and other illegal numbers game operators have managed to expand their reach as barangay officials succumb to the temptation of raising campaign funds as the barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) election nears. “We got reports that with the campaign funds reaching up to a million to ensure victory for a barangay captain running in an area of more than 40,000 people in Metro Manila and about P300,000 for each kagawad, there really is no option for some of the barangay candidates but to dip in the jueteng bucket," Lopez said. Lopez said although barangay candidates in the provinces need only as low as P20,000 to P50,000 in campaign funds, they are no less susceptible to the advances of illegal numbers game operators. “The pull of the P37 billion jueteng money circulating in the Philippine market is just too strong to resist for some of the barangay leaders running for various posts in about 40,000 barangays all over the country," she said. The lawmaker said Aquino mentioned that out of the P37 billion annual jueteng funds, P9 billion is as considered “profit." According to Lopez, the incoming barangay election has resulted in the entry of illegal gambling operators in areas where there used to be no such kind of illegal activity. She added that for barangay leaders and candidates who are not in direct contact with illegal gambling operators, the local government officials are allegedly the ones who collect and turn the money over to them. “There is a flood of jueteng money flowing as the barangay election nears," Lopez said. –with Amita Legaspi, VVP, GMANews.TV