Local officials can decide on jueteng issue — Roco

Let local executives decide whether they will allow gambling in their areas.

This was the stand taken by Alyansa ng Pag-Asa standard-bearer Raul Roco on the ticklish issue of whether to legalize the numbers game jueteng and other illicit forms of gambling.

In a recent campaign sortie, Roco said jueteng could be bad or good, depending on how one sees it, since "gambling under ethics is not per se wrong, not per se bad."

He noted that gambling is permitted "during wakes to raise funds for the (family of the deceased), or during Christmas, when even parishes hold bingo (games)."

"Gambling can be good or bad, depending on the circumstances," he said.

However, when gambling is "unaccountable, when there is power that overrules the judges that control the local or national government, then gambling is bad because sovereignty is killed by an unaccountable power," Roco said.

Jueteng was one of the concerns raised by a group of businessmen who met with Roco and other presidential candidates in the May 10 elections.

The groups presented an 11-point "presidential business agenda" that contains their "prescriptions" for the country’s ailing economy and peace and order situation.

The business leaders said that while jueteng is a primary source of corruption, which leads to the deterioration of peace and order nationwide, the "more pragmatic approach" to the problems posed by jueteng is for the government to study and implement the legalization of this numbers game.

The groups also proposed that safety measures be put in place to ensure that the gains of jueteng, in the form of taxes and other revenues, will go to the country’s coffers.

In a predominantly Catholic country like the Philippines, gambling is a critical issue that can make or break a politician’s career— as in the case of former President Joseph Estrada, whose ouster came after he was impeached for allegedly receiving jueteng payola money. Estrada is now under trial by the Sandiganbayan on plunder and graft charges.

Roco said the legalization of jueteng should depend "upon the moral standard of the community" where gambling will or will not be allowed, "just like in America."

"In Arizona, they like gambling. Here, Pasay (City) likes gambling but in Quezon City it has always been rejected," he said.

Roco said gambling, as a practice, should not be imposed, adding that local executives should decide whether gambling is acceptable according to the morals of their communities.

Meanwhile, Roco said in a campaign sortie that the coming elections could well become a rerun of the 1969 elections, "based on reports and based on data available."

In 1969, incumbent President Ferdinand Marcos ran for re-election against presidential contender Sergio Osmeña Sr.

Roco recalled that "at the end of the (1969) elections, the economy was totally in disarray. I wish it would not come out that way, but all indications point to it."

Roco’s running mate, Herminio Aquino, accused President Arroyo of engaging in political propaganda using government-purchased billboard ads and "all the attendant propaganda materials" for roadside maintenance and employment projects.

"We’ve been around the Philippines, including the Visayas and Mindanao, (where, at) every so many meters of the highways, you will see street-sweepers (wearing shirts bearing the President’s name) and other attendant propaganda materials," Aquino said. "You can imagine how much money is being spent for that — I understand it comes from the road users’ tax."

The President is seeking a fresh, six-year term of office under the banner of the Koalisyon ng Karanasan at Katapatan para sa Kinabukasan (K-4).

Aquino said that despite all these billboards and job openings for street-sweepers the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has failed to pay its debts to contractors because the department does not have sufficienct funds.

Roco also took potshots at another rival for the presidency, Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr.

According to Roco, a Poe presidency would simply be a "repeat performance" of the Estrada administration.