A love triangle at Baguio City Hall

BULL’S HIT
Rudy Garcia

I wonder no more if someday the city of Baguio would be having an apt tag as the gambling capital of the north. The illegal numbers game called jueteng is everywhere on every nook and cranny that kubradors collect bet money openly even inside city hall, police stations, city jail and also within the premises of religious worships.

Second to jueteng are games of mahjong and monte, while color games, pulley and drop balls at peryahan are disguised as bingo sa barangay. But local folks in Baguio prefer tong-its or pusoy as their favorites. You could see them playing inside parked vehicles, waiting sheds, public alleys, parks and etcetera.

Regular gambling patrons of mahjong or monte would surely point where they regularly play like that at the backstreet of plaza building (formerly plaza theater), two dens in Trancoville, M. Roxas Rd., one in Urbano Street Palma, one in between Labsan and Palma Street at Queen of Peace, one in Dagohoy Street, one at the top floor of a building along the intersection of Kayang Street.

Another is at Zandueta Street, one along intersection of Hanger Market Road, and Zamora Street, one in a residential house of a certain Chris Quirimit at Upper Burgos and Zamora Street and I bet more than I guess a lot more of these are operating and swarming with impunity in this summer mountain resort of the North.

Another illegal game of chance that is having heyday on this city is the poker game. I say the operators are just too smart they don’t operate on a definite place, time and date. They usually do the favorite butterfly style and they invite, inform players by means of text messages and their normal places of jump offs and ons are at the 2nd floor of Sakura Bar along Diego Silang Street (near the DENR) somewhere along the area at Engineer’s Hill near the LTO and a building near Jollibee at Legarda Road.

I wonder why despite these illegal gambling are activities going on, concerned officials could not stop of these illegal numbers games of chance. I am not saying that the NGOs and religious sectors including the media and the good bishop are helpless in eradicating this menace. Why do I keep on asking many times? On second thought, some people who are powerful and influential are protecting the operators.

Cash-sunduan is simple mathematics dear readers. For an official who is on the take, you could multiply, deduct or add or even have a square root to have its pockets filling up by the day, week, month, including advance, deposit and dis honorarium, whew! There is really money from other’s people’s money, Mahiya naman sana sila!

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How true is it that this top lady official at Baguio City Hall is now being tagged by some people at City Hall who know her more as the city hall lady prostitute? According to some insiders, this lady official has a child each from three politicos who won the recently held May 10 election.

If this is true then I wonder who among these politicos would is she clinging to as first lady and demanding a monthly sustento. Or will she just let them do the work for her promotion? I don’t say if someone is promoted one of these days, she is the one I am referring to! You have your own guess. Hehehe,
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Speaking again of politics, is it true that this top official who won a top position in the city of Baguio is now worried about his family because the wife is now apparently planning to file a petition of divorce against him? My insider said the wife of this politico knew already the secret love affair between her politico husband and a top lady official at City Hall. Expect tight guarding and a love triangle at Baguio city Hall these coming months, Wanna bet?
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Why is it that a construction going on at the intersection of Kayang Street and Shagem Street (formerly Lopez Building) was allowed by the City Building and Architecture Office or CBAO without any construction permit? My bubwit said the engineer in charge told him the permit was on process! Holy cow!

Does this mean that anyone who wishes to have his or her building constructed, reconstructed or renovated will just get a permit afterwards? Perhaps the CBAO and the building owner don’t know what is meant by social responsibility. Why don’t they go and see the dangers posed by this construction on the passing public and passengers waiting for jeepney rides? Attention, Engineer Oscar Flores of CBAO, perhaps you can do the checking yourself?