Avoid confusion, shut down STL permanently

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March L. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY -- It was not like President Duterte knew what was happening with gambling in the country. Apparently, he was confused. Either that or he is not getting the true picture of the real state of affairs of gambling in the country.

The President’s “close-open gambling” move or the very sudden closure order of lotto outlets over the weekend and again in a very sudden move, order its resumption; gave the President away.

But even while that was his position, his intelligence agents and gambling advisers should be grateful of the President who was not in the mood of firing them for putting him in an embarrassing situation. 

The President's abrupt verbal order to close all operations of PCSO gaming schemes reaped criticism from lotto franchise owners, including Senator Ping Lacson who said the order should not have covered lotto outlets since there were no reports of corruption there.

The morning following the President’s verbal order, ranking police officials in the company of news photographers scampered to close down 21,000 lotto outlets. Many say the police actions were “overkill”.

The lotto online server at the central office could have just literally switched off its operations. If that was done, not a single picture and selfie could have been clicked by the police.

The closure order last week that the President recalled after three days was only for the machine-operated lotto, as the rest of the gaming operations under PCSO were all still undergoing investigation.

Reopening the lotto outlets brought back life to operators and workers affected by the three-day closure. Senator Angara said putting back lotto on line again will ensure the implementation of the government’s medical assistance projects.

Gaming schemes such as Peryahan ng Bayan and Keno, most especially small town lottery (STL) that has been accused as “jueteng in disguise” remain suspended due to investigations into allegations of corruption and illegal activities.

As if the President’s police chief and all others in the PCSO do not know, indeed jueteng thrives under the skirt of STL. Surely jueteng bettors know that their bet collector for jueteng and STL in their barangay is one and the same person.

The difference is the green vest that the STL operator provides for its gang of bet collectors, so they no longer move around incognito. You and I sometimes see them in government offices, even in police stations.

Because of the mix-up, the police are left with no choice and cannot arrest or accuse them of illegal gambling because they carry STL employee identification cards.

One way of halting the operation of jueteng disguised as STL is for LGU officials to stop issuing business permits to the latter. STL is authorized, jueteng is not. The latter is illegal but for obvious reasons, it is not being stopped.

To show a more colorful picture of what jueteng is in relation to STL, I recall an incident involving cops and kubradores three years ago.

In that incident, two police officers were unceremoniously nabbed by a so-called police anti-scalawag unit who were armed to the teeth, upon the complaint of two STL bet collectors who claimed that the two cops extorted money from them.

The local PCSO branch office, however, issued a certification refuting that the two complainants were not among their employees connected with STL. The certification proved that the two complainants were jueteng kubradores masquerading as STL collectors.

Talking to lawmakers in the province, they said that there was never an ordinance approving the operation of any STL operator and there is no Authorized Agent Corporation (AAC) in the Cordillera Region.

If so, the suspicion arises that the STL operation that is presently collecting bets here could be a franchise that was approved somewhere.

Even Sen. Ping Lacson confirmed this in a senate hearing years ago saying, jueteng bet collectors use the IDs for guerrilla operations that the PCSO issued. The senator, a former chief of the PNP claimed that “is happening on the ground and the police know it”.

Along with that comes the suspicion from anti-corruption bodies that jueteng has bigger collections than STL operations, and PCSO is being cheated of an estimated P50 billion a year in its STL operations, according to Sen. Lacson.

By the way, a congressional inquiry sometime in 1990 found that franchises for STL had been awarded to the same people behind jueteng.

Since STL and jueteng operations could not be controlled, there is fear among operators that both gambling operations may be removed altogether. STL operations was launched by government supposedly to stamp out jueteng, an illegal numbers racket in the country.

But gambling lords instead used STL as a front for jueteng as the two games have similar mechanics. STL and jueteng involve betting on two-number combinations from 1 to 40 for the former and from 1 to 37 for the latter.

In Sen. Lacson’s committee hearing a few years ago, PCSO officials blamed the PNP for supposed lack of commitment to eliminate jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling.

PCSO General Manager Alexander Balutan, a retired Phil. Marines general then said in that hearing that he was disappointed and dismayed by the performance of the police saying, they have instead “chosen to serve crime lords.”

As for PCSO, it is a surprise that it is not contesting the operation of STL in an area outside the jurisdiction of its franchise.

Consider the case of Meridien Vista Gaming Corporation that has been accused by former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II as the competitor to STL across various provinces in Luzon.

Meridien is allegedly behind the jueteng-like operations in provinces namely; Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Benguet, Rizal, Cavite, Oriental Mindoro, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte and Albay. Not all of these provinces have STL franchises.

To be able to operate STL legally in an LGU, the PCSO-approved franchise must be accompanied by an ordinance and a memorandum of agreement. In some LGUs, public approval through public hearings are held. No such things were ever conducted in Baguio and Benguet.