Bishop: Officials in jueteng mess likely to pass lifestyle check

Retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said the government officials involved in the jueteng scandal will most likely pass the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)'s planned lifestyle check. Cruz, who testified at a Senate hearing on jueteng earlier this week, said the BIR may catch naive officials but the "veterans" will most likely find a way to hide their ill-gotten wealth. "May jueteng operator na di masyadong marunong pagka't bigla silang yaman. Di nila alam ang pasikot-sikot sa pera, kung saan itatago o saan dadalhin kaya malaki ang bahay at kotse, maraming bank account, mga di talaga professional ito at ito ang maaring ... ilagay sa kulungan," Cruz said in an interview on dwIZ radio. (There are some operators who are not familiar with how to handle their money. So they buy big houses and fancy cars, and have many bank accounts. These are the ones who can get caught and thrown in jail.) "Ang magagaling, ang talagang professional, wala kayong makikita. Maliit ang bahay, ang kotse maliit, etc., tapos ang pera nasa labas," Cruz said. (The real good and professional operators know how to hide their wealth. You won't get easy leads. Their houses are small, their cars inexpensive, and their money is likely abroad.) Cruz earlier alleged that some jueteng operators even launder their money using an elaborate scheme involving rural banks. Rural banks, however, washed their hands off the claim. On Tuesday, Cruz testified before a Senate hearing that some government officials receive payoffs from the illegal numbers game jueteng. His list included former Philippine National Police chief Jesus Verzosa and Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno. Both officials have denied Cruz's claims. On Thursday, BIR commissioner Kim Henares said their investigation will begin with the list of names disclosed at the Senate this week. Aside from the list provided by Cruz, Sen. Miriam Santiago named more figures linked to jueteng in her privilege speech. Officials allegedly involved in jueteng On Wednesday, Santiago accused the following people of allegedly receiving jueteng payoffs. • Former DILG chief Ronaldo Puno; • DILG Undersecretary Rico Puno; and • Former PNP chief Jesus Verzosa. Those whom the senator tagged as jueteng operators are: • Charlie "Atong" Ang; • Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda, husband of Pampanga Governor Lilia "Baby" Pineda; • Danny Soriano (operating in Cagayan, Quirino provinces); • Aging Lisan (Olongapo in Zambales, and Navotas and Malabon in Metro Manila); • Tony Santos (Quezon City, Caloocan, Valenzuela in Metro Manila, and Rizal province). • Ilocos Sur Governor Luis "Chavit" Singson (Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur); • Bonito Singson (Abra) • Congressman Ronald Singson (La Union); • a certain "M. Urduna" (Pangasinan); • a certain "Boy Bata" (Pangasinan); • one Col. Delos Santos (Zambales); • Ronald Lim (Manila); • Don Ramon (Laguna)' • Boyet Aransa • a certain "Haruta" (Laguna) • Eddie Gonzales (Quezon); • a certain "Don Ramon" (Mindoro Occidental), and • a certain "Santiago" (Mindoro Occidental). Cruz, who faced the Senate blue ribbon committee, bared a list of names that include incumbent DILG Usec. Puno and Verzosa. The other names he cited were: • Governor Baby Pineda of Pampanga; • Paul Dy of Isabela; • Retired general Eugene Martin of Baguio City; • Mayor Mauricio Domogan of Baguio City; • Danny Soriano of Cagayan; • a certain retired "General Padilla" operating in Pasay, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, and San Pedro; • Governor Amado Espino in Pangasinan, and • Boy Jalandoni of Bacolod. –VVP, GMANews.TV