Jueteng – who are they fooling?

EDITORIAL

Despite an order from Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno to the Philippine National Police to stop jueteng, the illegal numbers game is still rampant in Cordillera among other parts of the country and it seems, according to pundits, police are not making arrests.

If there are arrests, they are not jueteng lords or collectors but small time masa playing card games.    

Sources said jueteng lords have become more discreet in their operations after President Rodrigo Duterte made an executive order for the executive department to stop all forms of gambling including jueteng nationwide. But to date, it is still happy days for jueteng operators and takers.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella earlier said the government is now cracking down on illegal gambling like jueteng even as war on drugs softened.

“The Duterte administration’s campaign against crime and corruption is not limited to narcotics use and trade, but also includes other crimes, including illegal gambling,” Abella said.

“It’s part of the priorities of the President because his top priorities are drugs, crime, and corruption. It’s included,” Abella said in response to appeal of retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz that President Rodrigo Duterte also pay attention to illegal gambling. 

Sueno has ordered the PNP to go after illegal gambling operators saying

illegal gambling operations deprived government of taxes, which could be used in programs to benefit the people.

Aside from the war on drugs, the PNP must implement the Oplan Tokhang principle in going after illegal gambling lords, this time to ensure that appropriate taxes go to government coffers,” Sueno said.

Sueno issued the order for attached agencies of the DILG to comply with including the Philippine National Police.

With the PNP’s seeming reluctance to implement Duterte’s order to stop all forms of illegal gambling including jueteng, pundits are now saying all these are now moro-moro.

They say it is a test whether Duterte really means business in cleaning government of all forms of corruption. If jueteng will not stop, there is really no intent to stop it according to pundits who say payola or dirty money is irresistible to the takers. 

Indeed, if former PNP chief Panfilo Lacson, now a senator was able to stop it during his time, the Duterte government should be should be able to stop jueteng. But then…