The accusation that President Estrada had received P220 million as protection money from operators of jueteng, the illegal numbers game, is the worst allegation ever hurled against a Philippine president, and therefore the most serious challenge to the legitimacy of his office. There certainly have been accusations, proven or not, that past presidents -- especially the dictator Ferdinand Marcos -- have committed corruption of even higher magnitudes. Estrada however is the first president to be accused of getting huge bribes, starting just a month after he assumed office, from a criminal network, jueteng operators.

Estrada's accuser Ilocos Sur Governor Luis "Chavit" Singson claims he was actually a bagman who collected the gambling lords' pay-offs and delivered the money, in cash and in checks, to Estrada himself. Singson claims he will be presenting in days to come proof of his allegations to Congress. Estrada has outrightly denied Singson's charges. Press Secretary Ricardo Puno claimed that Singson hurled accusations merely to distract the public from an ongoing investigation of the governor's corruption involving P2 billion in taxpayer's money.

The jueteng controversy has been an earthquake jolting the Philippine body politic, and may well determine the fate of the Estrada presidency. As a service to the Inquirer.net's readers and to the nation, we have set up this special section as an information center on the issue. It will contain all Inquirer news articles, analyses and opinion pieces dealing with the controversy from the very first day it broke out. It will contain reproductions of documents that will be presented regarding the charges and transcripts of interviews with protagonists. It will also try to present Filipinos' sentiment on the controversy, through an online polling and discussion section.

Jueteng has been the most popular, yet illegal, lottery game in the Philippines. Derived from the Chinese word hue teng (hue for flower and eng for to bet), jueteng, or forms of the game, have been around since the Spanish era.

To play jueteng, a person bets on two numbers between 1 and 37. Small wooden numbered balls, called bolitas, are placed inside a rattan container. One bolita at a time is rolled out of the container for each of the two numbers representing the winning combination. The lottery is usually done in backyards or even inside homes -- often known in the community.The so-called cobradores, who take the bets and deliver the prizes themselves, announce the winning two-number combination.

Its persistence has been due to the fact that bets are small, from P1 to P200, which even the poorest could spend on. The winning pot ranges from P350 to P40,000, depending on the number of people who bet on the winning combination.

Jueteng is illegal in the country. Despite the fact that it is hardly hidden, it has proliferated on the grass-roots level, because local police and government officials simply look the other way-- for huge pay-offs. Recipients of such bribes are believed to make up a chain starting with the town mayor and police chief all the way to the provincial governor. The last pay-off link Ilocos Sur governor Luis Singson alleges, has been President Estrada himself. Profits of jueteng operators, net of the prizes, has been estimated to total as much as P65 million a day.

15 October

Apologizing to the Filipino people for the jueteng scandal, President Estrada declares that the government would no longer be involved in any form of gambling. FULL STORY

Standing by her man, the First Lady defends President Estrada from Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis ''Chavit'' Singson's allegations and denies that she received P20M from Singson. FULL STORY

MORE STORIES:

Church still calling
for Estrada to quit

Priest exorcises
Estrada 'demons'

RAM: We go where the
people will go

Singson reveals
meeting with JV

Estrada draws more flak
from left, right, center

Ricaforte in US
for ailing 'apo'

'Jueteng' hearings
likened to TV soap

Punish Osmeña over
'tip,' says rival

14 October

His voice quavering, President Estrada said last night that declaring a state of emergency was the "farthest thing from his mind," as he appealed for unity in the face of the worst political crisis to rock his presidency. In a telephone interview on the GMA-7 late night news, he also chided Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, who has urged him to resign, for "prejudging" him. FULL STORY

13 October

Mixed emotions greet Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's resignation as social welfare secretary. The remaining Cabinet members downplayed speculations that Arroyo's resignation was an offshoot of the jueteng payola issue. Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. said Arroyo's move was strictly a political one. FULL STORY

12 October

The jueteng scandal reaches crisis proportions, with Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin saying President Estrada had lost "the moral ascendancy to govern" and that he should step down. Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo breaks away from Estrada’s administration and resigns from her position as secretary of social welfare and development. FULL STORY

11 October

Former Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino expresses shock over Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis ''Chavit’’ Singson’s allegations against President Estrada and declares that the Filipino people deserve to know truth at the soonest possible time. FULL STORY

President Estrada’s partymates cut short Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis ''Chavit’’ Singson testimony at the House of Representatives as opposition solons walk out in disgust. FULL STORY

The Philippine peso hits an all-time low as investors lose confidence and the financial markets take a battering due to talks of President Estrada’s possible impeachment. FULL STORY

10 October

In an explosive news conference, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis ''Chavit’’ Singson declares that President Estrada is the country’s “biggest jueteng lord.” FULL STORY

The possibility of President Estrada’s impeachment because of the jueteng scandal surfaces as opposition congressman Heherson Alvarez declares that he would file an impeachment complaint. FULL STORY

The ''jueteng'' controversy embroiling President Estrada rocks the country's financial markets, pulling stocks down to a new two-year low and the peso as well. FULL STORY

9 October

President Estrada suspends Bingo 2-Ball amid growing criticisms that his friend, Charlie ''Atong'' Ang, was getting hefty commissions for operating the legalized version of jueteng. FULL STORY

Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis 'Chavit" Singson loses five of his police security escorts following his accusation that President Estrada received P220 million from "jueteng" lords. FULL STORY

After he allegedly inherited regional ''jueteng'' operations from an older late brother with a golden shotgun, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis ''Chavit'' Singson--branded in political circles as ''the last of the warlords''--reputedly built a gambling empire that at one time covered almost all of Luzon. FULL STORY