Baguio barangay heads at odds on ‘bingoteng’ share

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY — Barangay captains in this mountain resort city are at odds over the controversial operation of the popular "bingoteng," a combination of bingo and "jueteng," due to alleged lack of transparency particularly on sharing the money.

This developed after at least 70 barangay heads asked the Association of Barangay Councils to stop the operation of "bingoteng" because there was no definite arrangement on sharing of proceeds.

They said they were not properly informed about how the millions of pesos in proceeds, which were supposed to be distributed to the barangays, were disbursed.

They said they wanted an end to the "bingoteng" operation because it was causing divisiveness among barangay officials.

Majority of the board of directors of the Association of Barangay Chairmen running the bingoteng here said they were withdrawing their support to the controversial game of chance.

Eight of 11 board members of the ABC said they were not supporting the maligned bingo-socials saying it was beset by legal and moral issues.

At least 58 of the 128 barangays in the city had endorsed bingoteng’s operation, dreaming of barangay projects that the city couldn’t fund.

But this time, they said there were more acceptable sources of funds for the barangays.

These included solid waste management, particularly the establishment of materials recovery facilities in different areas, establishment of a livelihood center where the proper production of crops would be taught to the residents and products would be sold, and the operation of a barangay sari-sari store.

Ironically, only 50 barangays in the city endorsed the operation of the "bingoteng," but the ABC pursued it because of the millions of pesos in income derived from the daily activity.
This caused misunderstanding among barangay heads, particularly on which barangays should have bigger share.

Complaining barangay captains said "bingoteng" should be stopped because the ABC could not force all the 128 barangays to support the illegal and immoral activity being promoted by their officials.

The barangay chairmen admitted that the "Bingo sa Barangay" is similar to the notorious "jueteng" because the numbers in the purported bingo cards are from one to 38. The numbers in the regular bingo card are from 1 to 75.

If the barangays which are not supporting bingoteng can survive and come up with sufficient funds to finance their projects, the oppositors said there is no reason for the continued operations of bingoteng in the city.

Aside from the sharing of income and the disagreement that cropped up in the ABC, they claimed the morality issue was a nagging question because "the means does not justify the end."

The oppositors also cited negative consequences of gambling among the people.
Some ABC officers had complained that the share of the association was not being deposited in its official account, and it was allegedly handled by the auditor.

This was contrary to sound accounting and auditing rules and regulations, they said.