STL: False hope

Small Town Lottery (STL) is false hope.

STL, the Malacañang bright boys say, will wipe out jueteng. Jueteng is illegal, while STL is legal. Think of the jobs it will create for the millions of unemployed.

What a crazy justification! What a morally depraved reasoning! The government might as well legalize smuggling, prostitution and drug pushing. They also provide jobs for the jobless. PGMA should realize how destructive this Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Officer project is to the Filipino nation.

The poor will become poorer. The victims of STL are not the rich, who patronizes the casinos, but the poor who will lose their peso for food, their peso for medicines to the "get rich quick" lure of the STL.

Gambling is evil no matter how one looks at it. And evil cannot be corrected with another evil. If jueteng is a pain in the neck of the government, STL or whatever gambling techniques PCSO can concoct is not the relief. The solution is simple: Jail the jueteng lords.

But jueteng or no jueteng, gambling in whatever form is unjustifiable. Gambling is motivated by greed and inspired by indolence. One wants to own something without working for it. "Basin na lang", they say in Bisaya. "Basin", however, comes as one chance in a million and one who relies on it ends up losing even his own pants.

To quote Monsignor Rey Monsanto of Cagayan de Oro: " Gambling instills in a person a 'bahala na' or leaving everything to chance, as well as cultivate a lazy way of going about one's task".

Laziness is a long pestering Filipino attitude. Many people dislike hard work and want to spend their time doing little or nothing at all. The exodus to urban centers is generally motivated by the love of easy life and avoidance of farm work. Thus, our cities are exploding in population while the countrysides are becoming deserted. Lands are left idle and unproductive. Is there any wonder we are importing rice from other countries?

As planned, STL outlets will be operated in cities and municipalities, even in barangays, throughout the country. Cebu of course is targeted as venue and if Cebuanos remain passive, STL units will soon sprout in many parts of the province. When that happens, gambling will dominate the social, economic life of this island province.

Even without STL, gambling activities in the form of "hantak", "tigbakay" and game cards are already going on in different areas. Lotto is also patronized along with the clandestine "masiao", and of course for the affluent, there are the casinos.

Years back, there was the jai-alai, and betting became so pervasive that even teachers and students were observed working on tip sheets even during class hours. In fact, some graders were even used as "messengers" by gambling financiers. Parents too became so addicted to the number games that even their "rice" money found their way into ticket outlets.

The negative impact of these upon peace and order was tremendous. Crimes against persons and property proliferated. Thievery and snatching became everyday occurrences. In schools, the dropout rate rose while the number of non-schooling children increased.

With STL coming our way, what will happen to the quality of life in Cebu? What will happen to the efforts of the academe and the Church to teach our people the values of discipline, honesty and hard work?

The situation is alarming. Fortunately, the good mayor of Quezon City, Sonny Belmonte is strongly against STL in his city. His bold move may spur others to similar action.

It is the time therefore for all well meaning Filipinos to voice their solid "no" to STL. The leadership in the academe, business, the Church, and all conscience driven groups should shout their objections to high heavens.

Cebu archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has been a persistent objector to government-sponsored gambling initiatives. In the past he took active roles in social actions against institutionalized number games.

With his continued guidance and leadership in unity with Cebu's dynamic lay leaders their active dissent resounding strongly in this province, Malacañang planners may yet do a turn-around in this crucial social issue.

The Cebuanos sent a president to Malacañang. They can also send to never-never land a highly immoral project like the STL.

STL provides false hopes to our people. It's time to put an end to it.

It's time to stand up and shout; NO, a big solid NO to STL.