‘KBL’ breeds jueteng, illegal gambling

KBL is breeding jueteng and other illegal games in the country.

The acronym refers not to the once monolith political machinery of then President Ferdinand Marcos, the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, rather the Filipino subculture of Kasal, Binyag at Libing (KBL) (weddings, baptisms, funerals).

These bacchanalian celebrations often force local folk to run to their mayors and other political godfathers for help in financing.

The mayors, in turn, have no recourse but to succumb to the lure of easy money offered by operators of jueteng and other illegal numbers games to satisfy the year-round flow of people calling on them and asking for donations for KBL, Agnes Devanadera, former mayor of Sampaloc town in Quezon province, said.

Speaking at a weekly forum, Devanadera said the operation of jueteng and similar games has been "the major source" of financing for local politicians to meet the needs of their local constituency.

Devanadera said operators and gambling lords’ offer to contribute to a mayor’s KBL fund ranges from P50,000 to P1 million a month, depending on the size of a locality.

She said that when she first assumed the post of mayor in 1988, no less than the chief of police in her town attempted to give her a monthly contribution of P50,000 from operators and gambling lords for her KBL funds. She junked the offer because her battle cry when she ran for office was to stop illegal gambling in the town.

"I told the chief of police that if he insists that I allow illegal gambling operations in the town, I will ask for his transfer. Illegal gambling in the town stopped," she said.

Devanadera, a former president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, is now spearheading the Jueteng -Free Philippines Movement.

She said the campaign by the Department of the Interior and Local Government against illegal gambling will succeed "only if there is full support from the citizenry."

The government must also find a way to give an alternative source of income to people depending on illegal gambling as a source of livelihood since they will be displaced after a crackdown. She described them as "victims" of illegal gambling.

The irony of jueteng and illegal gambling is that they persist because local folk subscribe to them with high hopes that they may win a huge amount of money to finance the KBL. But little do they know that results of illegal gambling are rigged by operators themselves and there is very little chance for them to hit the jackpot.

In the end, they run to their mayors to beg for money.

During her term in office, Devanadera said she created a special office that took care of the KBL needs of her constituency. She tapped private civic groups and local companies to support this special office.

She said the need for KBL funds should be properly addressed and not force local officials to depend on illegal gambling.