Ifugao gov tells folk: Nab jueteng bettors, collectors

LAGAWE, Ifugao -- Gov. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. gave the go signal for citizens to arrest jueteng operators or collectors in the province.

This after the governor’s “End of August” ultimatum to Ifugao policemen to stop the illegal numbers game lapsed with no visible result.

Baguilat said that he was now taking the fight against jueteng “with his own hands,” after getting disappointed with the policemen’s apparent inaction.

“I will be using my own men to run after juetengeros (operators and Kobradores),” he said.

Jueteng operations in Ifugao, like nearby Nueva Vizcaya province are reportedly run by operators “guerrilla style.”

Last week, civilians deputized by Baguilat, reportedly rounded up kobradores (bet collectors) in Kiangan town and were warned to stop their operations or be jailed.

Earlier this week, Baguilat dispatched volunteers of the provincial capitol to round up jueteng bet collectors in Kiangan but failed to catch anyone.

But on their third day, a kubrador was collared but was released by Kiangan police for lack of evidence.

Baguilat said he was irked that kubradores were operating visibly as he saw some of them on his way to the capitol.

The governor’s information officer-Robie Halip said, Kiangan is at the moment “jueteng free” but continuous patrols were needed to ensure total cessation of jueteng in the town.

“The crackdown operation against jueteng in Kiangan is a strong indication that the governor means what he says,” Halip said.Baguilat said the crackdown in Kiangan now being mainly undertaken by civilians was just the start in the province, adding other operations would follow in other Ifugao towns.