Mayor chides reporter, lawyer over jueteng

BULL’S HIT
Rudy Garcia

I should not be writing about jueteng these days but my bubuwit who happened to be in Binalonan Pangasinan to visit a friend several days ago had this story.

According to him, he was there when he learned that several National Bureau of Investigation agents from Tayug, Pangasinan raided a ricefield in Binalonan where an alleged jueteng draw was being held.

He was wondering why an enforcement agency from another town was doing an operation in Binalonan. To know the real score, he asked questions from residents and told ueteng in their area was just a normal activity.

Raids were also but a normal thing happening every month obviously for the public to believe that authorities were doing their job. But most residents there believe that the raids were only moro-moro – all for show.

According to my bubuwit, jueteng routine is for operators to rest for a month after the moro-moro show and again resume operation after a clearance or an apparent blessing from those in position to give that thumbs up sign.

Another story of my bubuwit that made my body feel like a volcanic ready to erupt, was a story told him about a reporter who was beaten black and blue right there at the middle of the rice field while the said reporter was trying to get evidence by shooting a picture of an ongoing jueteng draw.

To add insult to injury, the reporter and his lawyer were humiliated by the mayor of that town when the reporter filed his complaint at the Municipal Justice Hall. This mayor, accordingly, is a cousin of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

If all of these stories told to my bubuwit are true, then I think the new administration of this Banana Republic should look into this matter of concern to the province where jueteng whistle blower retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz belongs to.

Nevertheless, I still salute the retired archibishop for his courage in naming names of alleged protectors of this illegal numbers game, but I would be more to appreciative of him if he can name this top official in his province who is perceived to be a jueteng protector before the senators conducting the jueteng probe. Iurge him to visit those rice fields at Binalonan for additional evidence.
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This lady fiscal who is supposed to be assisting her client in the prosecution of a case filed before a trial court should be enlightened more of what she is mandated to perform before a justice proceeding.

A woman who is supposed to be the prime prosecution witness being the complainant of an estafa case was disappointed by this lady prosecutor when the latter questioned her personality to file the complaint in front of the judge handling the case during a hearing session.

Holy cow, this lady fiscal perhaps forgot that she is a public prosecutor and the people of the Philippines are her clients. Don’t she tell me that she is not convinced of the resolution made by her co-prosecutor, otherwise I would be thinking that she is a plain boba or pretending to be.

Money received for a supposed service not performed or done is clear estafa no matter where that money came from. The rule is, whoever gave the money and the person being offered for the service not performed has all the right to demand remedies that would compensate the amount of money lost whether she owns it or not, understood?