GMA: This president did not receive payola

"I can assure you, I am one president that did not receive any payola."

For the first time since allegations of the First Family’s involvement in jueteng broke out days ago, President Arroyo made this pledge yesterday before Christian evangelical bishops, who called on her to intensify her campaign against crime and corruption.

Mrs. Arroyo made the statement during a closed-door meeting with at least 20 bishops and other leaders of evangelical churches at the opening of the Metro Manila Franklin Graham Festival — a conference of church leaders — in Quezon City.

"We were telling her that no pastor or bishop of evangelical and Baptist churches received a single centavo from jueteng, and she said that ‘I can assure you I am one president that did not receive any payola,’" Bishop Bienvenido Abante of the Alliance of Baptists Council quoted Mrs. Arroyo as saying.

"She told us here very frankly that never did she receive any payola. And we believe that. I don’t think that the President would lie before all the bishops," he said.

He said the bishops believe that Mrs. Arroyo’s declaration included First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and son Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, who were accused by unidentified whistleblowers of being on the take from gambling lords.

The bishops led thousands of participants from various Christian evangelical churches in the country in praying for the President. They said they fully support her all-out war against jueteng.

The President’s statement came just days after she declared an all-out campaign against jueteng, a step which various sectors urged her to take to belie the allegations against her family.

Abante, who is also a congressman representing the sixth district of Manila, said the bishops asked Mrs. Arroyo to task the Presidential Commission on Values Formation to conduct an independent probe on allegations that local officials, including lawmakers, receive bribe money from jueteng lords.

The independent body, he said, should include representatives from religious groups, two each from academe, business sector and the media.

"Members of the independent body should be beyond reproach," Abante said.

He said the President promised to study their proposal.

Bishop Cesar Punzalan of the Philippine Council for Evangelical Churches said they did not support any presidential elections but after the elections "we were mandated by God to support the administration."

Abante said they believe Mrs. Arroyo would be able to survive the controversy.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, meanwhile, said the President’s order for law enforcement agencies to go all-out against jueteng was not meant to please anybody or any group but to reiterate her directive given last year.

"The President was the one who signed into law increasing penalties on jueteng," Bunye said.

He said Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez’s move to summon the Arroyos in connection with the investigation on the jueteng allegations shows strict compliance with Mrs. Arroyo’s directive.

"We believe he is just following the directive of the President to look into mater and spare no one," Bunye said.

He said Malacañang appreciates "well-meaning suggestions" to legalize jueteng but the President is firm in her decision to eradicate illegal gambling.

"It is her desire to do away with a culture of luck and put in its place a culture of honest enterprise," Bunye said. "We need to promote the right attitude and values among our people."

He said however it would be up to Congress to decide whether it wishes to legalize jueteng.

He said Malacañang did not impose a deadline on eradicating jueteng since the illegal numbers game has been "with us for a long time and it is not easy to lick this problem."

He said Gonzalez’s statement that the whistleblowers could be charged with libel was not meant to deter them from coming forward. He said the statements were just a reminder of what is provided for in the law.

"You don’t just go around besmirching the reputation of people without proof or evidence," Bunye said.