10 Cordi gov’t officials ‘on the take’ from jueteng lords

BAGUIO CITY – At least 10 government officials in the region are “on the take” from jueteng lords raking in millions of pesos on protection money.

City director of the Department of Interior and Local Government Evelyn Trinidad bared this Thursday during a meeting with representatives from the local government, media, religious sector and the academe.

She did not disclose the names of the alleged protectors or financiers but she said they were validating reports from informants regarding the issue.

“Everybody knows (even the media) who they are but accusing people and proving their complicity in illegal gambling is another thing,”

She said the DILG, at least in Baguio will collate information and proposals on how to eradicate the illegal numbers game like getting evidence against “protectors” and workers.

Some media representatives during the Tuesday meeting proposed that police could arrest one bet collector, locally known as kubradors daily in the city’s 128 barangays.

They said if one kubrador would post bail of P5000 for the offense, jueteng lords or operators would be hard up paying workers and protectors considering if there are 128 kubradors arrested in a day, then operators would stand to lose P640,000 daily.

“If you double the arrests per barangay, then jueteng operators would have to sell out more than P1 million for bail bonds alone,” a mediaman said. “Shelling out money for “protectors” would be difficult if this were the case.”

But Supt. Benjamin Sembrano, city police intelligence chief said during Tuesday’s forum that “eradicating jueteng is not that easy as it is only one concern of the police.”

He said one of the city police’s priorities is restoring the image of Baguio as “cleanest and greenest city” in the country. “Jueteng is only one of our concerns.”

A mediaman said in jest he didn’t know the Department of Environment and Natural Resources had delegated some of its functions to the police in Baguio.

Police representatives admitted they have to follow whatever directives they have from their bosses in Camp Crame if they will go hard on jueteng or not.

This prompted a dean from a city university to say that their students see kubradors everyday and it is a wonder why the police were not arresting them.

He said he saw two cops near a jueteng bolahan (where operators hold draws) and asked why they were not raiding the place.

The cops reportedly told him they could be detailed elsewhere or even fired for imaginary violations if they did so.

Joseph Manzano, news anchor of DZWT said eradicating jueteng is easy if police do their job and arrest those involved in illegal gambling like jueteng.

Other newsmen said kubradors could be seen everywhere and it is a wonder how they could even solicit bets at city hall and even police stations.

They said if Sen. Panfilo Lacson could stop jueteng during his term as chief of the Philippine National Police, then the PNP could stop it if it wanted to.
This, after the city government headed by Mayor Mauricio Domogan created Task Force Jupiter to go against illegal gambling like jueteng in the city and nearby Benguet province which residents said had gone from bad to worse.

The TFJ is composed of representatives from the local government, police, private sector and religious representatives.

The PNP and DILG have recently been castigated in news reports in the national level for failing to stop jueteng nationwide.