'Jueteng to raise funds for 2001 polls'

It's fund-raising time for the 2001 local elections.

An administration congressman warned yesterday that some people in government may favor the legalization of jueteng in a bid to generate funds for next year's polls.

This developed as the influential Catholic Church vowed to step up its campaign against all forms of gambling, particularly jueteng, a popular numbers game.

Bohol Rep. Ernesto Herrera said government officials, especially those in the regional, provincial and municipal levels, may be inclined to officially permit jueteng in their areas to raise funds for the coming elections.

"Drug money has been used to finance elections and so is gambling money," he said. "I am very concerned about this jueteng because it can be readily used for political purposes."

Herrera noted that information on the extent of jueteng operations in the country which Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol made public recently has also reached the office of one senator whom he declined to identify.

This senator, he said, shares his belief that jueteng money "can catapult people to elective posts."

Apostol earlier revealed that the government is planning to legalize jueteng to raise revenues. However, President Estrada has denied this.

Nonetheless, Apostol said that the recent admission of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) that it is planning to launch this year small-town lotteries or loterya ng bayan only confirmed his suspicion that the government is bent on legalizing jueteng, albeit in another form.

"PCSO Chairwoman Rosario Lopez is fooling the public about the lottery. Jueteng is jueteng even if you call it by another name. The fact that the lotteries will be conducted in towns nationwide proves that the PCSO will flood the country with more gambling," he said.

Apostol added that he does not believe Lopez's claims that the small-town lotteries will help eradicate jueteng in the countryside.

"We have heard this song before and it stinks," he said, adding that this was the same reason cited by the government when it pushed for the online lottery or lotto several years ago. Lotto, he said, is now being operated all over the country yet jueteng continues to thrive.

Apostol pointed out that the proliferation of gambling has huge "pathological costs" which can be gleaned on citizens being forced to lie, steal, go bankrupt, neglect their jobs or family or even commist suicide because of their uncontrollable desire to gamble.

Apostol's claims were supported by the Catholic Church which maintains a strong opposition to gambling.

Bishop Nestor Carino, spokesman for the powerful Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said that if Congress would enact a law legalizing jueteng, the Church would have no recourse but to fight the lawmakers.

Carino, however, said they are still waiting for clear signals on the course Congress would take. "We've been reading contradicting reports. We would like to see first what the government would do," he said. - With Sandy Araneta