Lina disowns Singson

Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson can’t negotiate for jueteng legalization because he’s not connected with government.

In a statement yesterday, Interior Secretary Jose Lina Jr. refuted allegations made against Singson by opposition senatorial candidate Panfilo Lacson. Lina said Singson is not his department’s anti-gambling consultant.

"It is therefore irrelevant for me to give explicit authorization to Singson to meet with gambling lords as claimed by General Lacson, when Singson is not in any way connected with the DILG," read the statement.

Lacson, one of six c natorialandidates personally endorsed by deposed President Joseph Estrada. claimed that Singson secretly met with operators to work out a legal version of jueteng.

Lina said Singson is not connected with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in any capacity, although the governor had earlier offered to help the government in its anti-gambling campaign.

Singson said Lina has not authorized him to meet with jueteng lords and that he has always opposed the legalization of the numbers game through the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

Any move to legalize jueteng must pass through Congress which has to enact a law for that purpose, he added.

Singson challenged Lacson "to withdraw from the senatorial race" if the former PNP chief fails to prove his allegations that he had met with jueteng operators.

Singson has aired suspicions that Lacson was behind a failed attempt on his life last year in Manila. The attempt, which would have supposedly been carried out by policemen, triggered Singson’s revelations of jueteng payoffs to Estrada that eventually led to the disgraced president’s impeachment.

Lacson, the former Philippine National Police chief, said yesterday Singson has such a "short memory" that he could not remember meeting with jueteng operators at the Robinsons Galleria Suites last Feb. 16.

In an interview over dzMM radio yesterday, Lacson said Singson activates his "selective memory" whenever he is cornered or forced to admit something that is against his interests.

"It is unfortunate that Governor Singson permanently suffers from memory lapses as what we have seen when he testified during the impeachment trial," he said.

On the other hand, Singson said yesterday Lacson was lying about his supposed meeting with jueteng operators.

"Lacson is a liar," he said in an interview over dzXL radio. "Liars have no place in the Senate."

Lacson said Singson told the jueteng operators to lie low for two months while they come out with a concept on how to legalize the numbers game.

"Singson had just promised Jaime Cardinal Sin and the people at EDSA that he would reform himself and would no longer join any illegal activity and now, here he is after a month," he said.

Lacson said he had a mole among those who attended the meeting between Singson and the jueteng operators, but he refused to identify him.

"Chavit might kill him," he said. "But the fact remains that the meeting took place and they discussed the legalization and temporary stop of their operations, with the promise that they would get a franchise."

However, Lacson denied that the information was relayed to him by a jueteng operator, saying he had not made contact with any gambling boss in his entire career in the military and police forces.

"Even when I was provincial director of Laguna, I was offered P1.2 million in monthly payola which I refused," he said.

Lacson also rejected Singson’s allegations that he tolerated jueteng operations when he was PNP chief because of the alleged involvement of ousted President Joseph Estrada.

Lacson said he got the ire of Singson and alleged jueteng operator Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda when his men at the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force raided gambling joints in Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, and Bulacan in June last year.

"In his desire to ensure the smooth operation of jueteng, Chavit even upped the monthly payola to P30 million but still, I refused to accept it and instead, intensified the drive against the illegal numbers game," Lacson said.

In Muntinlupa, six men were arrested the other day after they were caught drawing the results of a jueteng game in an apartment along Sampaguita street in Lakeview Homes, Putatan at around 6:15 p.m.

Inspector Eladio Santos, Muntinlupa police investigation chief, identified the six as Pedro Arandia, 69; Manuel Arandia, 48; Honesto Hizon, 36; Romeo Gutierrez, 40; Pablo Martin, 48; and Reynante Santos, 46.

Santos told reporters yesterday the six were charged before the prosecutor’s office with the violation of Presidential Decree No. 1602.

Metro Manila police commander Deputy Director General Romeo Peña warned the southern and eastern district directors and their police chiefs yesterday they would be relieved from their posts if they fail to stop jueteng in their jurisdictions by Thursday.

Peña said jueteng operations continue in the cities of Parañaque, Las Piñas, Pasay and Marikina. – With reports from Efren Danao, Rainier Allan Ronda, Non Alquitran