CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The police campaign to eradicate the illegal numbers racket jueteng will not only cover Pampanga, President Aquino’s home province of Tarlac, Pangasinan or wherever good governance advocates want it to be started, according to the newly installed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief.
“Sa lahat ng lugar (In all places),” Deputy Director General Nicanor Bartolome said on Wednesday when asked if the campaign would roll out first in Pampanga as proposed by the group Kaya Natin! last Monday.
In a text message sent by Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz, PNP spokesperson, Bartolome said under his watch, the campaign against crimes would “continue without letup and that includes operations against all forms of illegal gambling activity and other violations of law.”
Total approach
“Let me emphasize that deep-rooted as it is, completely stopping jueteng requires a total approach strategy by all sectors,” he said.
He said police action is “only one dimension of the total approach.”
“The larger and more important elements must come from the local political leadership, community and all stakeholders,” he said.
This echoed former PNP chief Raul Bacalzo’s position when he faced Senate committees investigating reports last year that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s (PCSO) Small Town Lottery (STL), revived on orders of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005, was being used as a legal cover for jueteng.
Jueteng in seven regions grossed P2.575 billion monthly, according to a police report submitted to the Senate. STL, on the other hand, made P9.5 billion from February 2006 to August 2010, PCSO officials told the Senate.
Getting frustrated
Harvey Keh, lead convenor of Kaya Natin!, a movement for ethical leadership and good governance, said the group was “getting frustrated” because Mr. Aquino has not made the antijueteng campaign among his administration’s priorities.
“We are now beginning to wonder why, given that he has always espoused ang matuwid na daan (the straight path). Until jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling are stopped, our country can never claim to have a straight path,” Keh told the Inquirer.
He assured retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz, chair of Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Sugal (People’s Crusade Against Gambling), that Kaya Natin! was one with him and Krusada in the fight to end jueteng.
However, Keh lamented that Cruz singled out Kaya Natin!’s founders, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo and former Pampanga Governor Eddie Panlilio, for not being able to stop jueteng.
“Among Ed was a staunch antijueteng advocate even before he was governor and up until now,” Keh said.
Aquino’s alter ego
He said Robredo “serves as the alter ego of the President and as much as he would want to wage an all-out war against jueteng, he is still waiting for the President to make a public pronouncement about this issue.”
In a statement, Panlilio said he failed to stop jueteng during his administration but this did not mean that he did not do anything about it.
“Anybody for that matter would not be successful,” said Panlilio who, as a priest, served as secretary of Cruz when Cruz was bishop of Pampanga.
“All of the elected officials then did not care to stop jueteng,” he said.
Panlilio said he asked then Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to assign to Pampanga a police official who would stop jueteng but his request was not granted.
Panlilio urged the Aquino administration to stop STL and its forthcoming substitute, the PCSO Loterya ng Bayan.
More News:
Aquino backs FOI bill, insists aide
Palace: No war with bishops over reproductive health bill
Dengue cases in Philippines up by 16%
INQUIRER.net poll: 40% of respondents think Aquino’s SONA excellent
Aquino’s RH bill endorsement an open war on Church, bishops say
Despite Aquino snub, FOI will be pushed, lawmaker vows
Palace defends use of last year’s crime stats in SONA
Aquino can’t stop Charter change moves—Palace
Aquino submits P2-trillion budget to Congress
Palace: No road map needed for ‘daang matuwid’
Palace names Rojas permanent NBI chief
Aquino statement on responsible parenthood ‘safe’ , says Sotto
Luisita lands should be distributed in one year, says farmers group leader
Guingona says Aquino’s SONA surpassed his expectations
Aquino: Philippines is no longer a joke
6,000 cops block 5,000 protesters hurling stones
House ‘Great Wall’ shrine to historic impeachment
Aquino: Nothing is impossible
Scores hurt as protesters clash with cops
Aquino defends new mining policy
Aquino: We’ve proven the impossible possible
Aquino’s ‘good news’ not in sync with reality—Casiño
No mention of RH bill in Sona, says Sotto
Mining, sin tax bills should be passed, says Drilon
Aquino vows to step up infrastructure development
Aquino calls ARMM governor ‘certified ghost buster’
Police say Aquino Sona peaceful despite clash
Clash with cops resulted from ‘frustration,’ say militants
Binay gives Aquino Sona a ‘9’
Villar rates Aquino’s Sona ‘good’
Ombudsman Morales extolled in Aquino Sona
AFP to get more equipment, aircraft next year – Aquino
Aquino says reforms now the norm
Ex-President Estrada, senators assess Aquino gov’t
`Kayo po ang gumawa ng pagbabago. SONA ito ng sambayanang Pilipino’
Aquino won’t ‘forgive and forget’ sins of past administration
Aquino sees 10M tourists coming to PH by 2016
Aquino lauds gov’t improved risk reduction capability
Aquino says 3.1M jobs created in past 2 years
Aquino: Classroom shortage problem solved before 2014
Aquino tells legislators: Pass Sin Tax bill
Aquino draws cheer for mentioning possible passage of RH bill
Clash erupts again on Commonwealth Avenue, 2 media members injured
Philippines now open for business – Aquino
Aquino: Reformed PhilHealth reaches more poor people
Aquino opens 3rd Sona with attack on past administration
Aquino arrives in House for Sona
Protesters clash with cops in front of Ever Gotesco
Cayetano on charter change proponents: Proceed with caution
Lawmakers urged to pass K+12, RH bills
Protesters remove steel barricade near Ever Gotesco in Quezon City
Protesters burn Aquino effigy
15th Congress sessions open for Aquino’s third Sona
Enrile wants to hear Aquino’s plan on job creation
De Venecia, Bartolome, Carpio arrive at the House for Sona 2012
Charter change among Senate’s priorities—Enrile
Protesters call Aquino’s 2-year rule pro-foreigners, ‘mostly talk than work’
21 senators present at early Monday session; Pangilinan, Santiago absent
Militant farmers’ group clashes with police on Commonwealth Avenue
Media members affiliated with government TV stations join Sona 2012 protesters
235 lawmakers present at House’s early Monday session for 2012 Sona
Senate opens pre-Sona session
What the nation wants to hear
Police blockage on Commonwealth Avenue violates BP 880, says Bayan
Rains expected on SONA day–Pagasa
Protesters mass near Congress ahead of Aquino’s speech
Classes suspended in some Metro schools due to bad weather
Protesters told: Bring umbrellas, raincoats
PNP units on full alert for anti-Sona rallies
Sen. Arroyo to skip fashion parade of legislators
Palace vows ‘truthful, inspiring’ 3rd SONA
Senator Trillanes says won’t attend Aquino SONA
OK all the way, thumbs down on quite a few
Heavy rains forecast for Sona
PNP assures Sona protesters cops will not carry guns
Corona expects more attacks from Aquino, says he’s moved on
Palace hit for blaming courts on human rights slays
Congress pushes Charter change
Lawmakers voice out what they expect to hear from Aquino’s 3rd Sona
Liberal Party not aggressively recruiting—Belmonte
Arroyo seeks bishops’ prayers ‘to accept things she could no longer change’
Genuino charged over P258-M coffee overprice
Arroyo wants to stop P366-M PCSO case
About time you quit blaming Arroyo, militants tell Aquino
Militant group leaders snub pre-SONA dialogue with cops
CCT goal of easing poverty still way off
Some 5,000 cops to be deployed in Congress for Aquino speech
Not one human rights violator convicted–CHR chief
Gov’t reforms take roots at ‘cheating capital’ of PH
Ombudsman is Aquino’s key weapon vs graft
PSG inspects House ahead of President Aquino’s SONA
House preparations on high gear for Aquino State of the Nation Address
It’s official: Morales new Ombudsman
At A Glance
‘Thank you, my Bosses’
State of the Nation Address
Militants burn Aquino effigy
Militants gather at St. Peter’s Church
Farmers stopped from crossing police line
Arroyo arrives at House of Representatives
Some 5,000 cops, MMDA personnel deployed vs militants
Traffic build up on southbound lane of Commonwealth Ave. in QC
Militants prepare for ‘PeNoy’ effigy burning on Monday
President to focus on transformation
Anti-corruption drive gains top Aquino SONA—Palace
Traffic re-routing scheme for Monday in QC’s Commonwealth area
Lintang Bedol arrives in Camp Crame
Hardy Filipinos fly flag, fight loneliness on Kalayaan isle
Aquino reports to the boss (Part 1)