‘2nd jueteng witness is more explosive’

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz says he will present a new witness at the Senate inquiry on jueteng tomorrow with even more explosive revelations than those linking President Arroyo’s son to illegal gambling.

Cruz’s next witness might bring a so-called "blue book" or record of payoffs listing names of bribed officials to the Senate inquiry, the anti-jueteng crusader said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Miriam Santiago bared an alleged opposition plot to unseat Mrs. Arroyo by impeachment and use the jueteng controversy to erode public support for the President.

Last week, Cruz presented self-confessed jueteng operator Wilfredo Mayor to the inquiry, in which Mayor claimed that he made regular payoffs to Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo and several other officials.

"This second guy is also a jueteng operator who has more knowledge and is more entrenched in jueteng operations than Mayor," Cruz told The STAR.

"He might bring documents that would show the date, payola amount and who the recipients of jueteng were. These listings he made for his own recollection."

Cruz vouched for the record book’s authenticity. "The book’s pages had long been used and the ink proves that it was written a long time ago."

However, the bishop was not sure if his next witness would have the courage to present the record book at the hearing. "It is up to him if he will produce it. I do not want to influence him in his testimony because it might only confuse him."

Mayor and Cruz’s next witness will appear before the Senate inquiry without the guidance of a lawyer. "This is like a ‘go for broke’ attitude. Why would you need a lawyer if all the things you say are the truth?" Cruz said.

Cruz said his anti-jueteng watchdog organization might present up to eight witnesses, whose testimonies promise to be more revealing than those of previous witnesses.

"We might also have two bagmen who delivered payola money to beneficiaries at the national level. A lot of people will get hit."

But he conceded that some of the witnesses might back out for fear of their own safety.

Bogus mobile phone text message are already circulating that Mayor has been kidnapped or assassinated, Cruz said.

Earlier, Cruz said unidentified enemies of his crusade planned to fabricate a sex scandal to discredit him. He said a man would come forward to claim that he had a homosexual relationship with the archbishop.

Cruz laughed off the alleged scheme, saying he had been expecting such attacks on his integrity in order to discredit him. "They should have some class."

Mrs. Arroyo earlier said the jueteng allegations were part of a plot by the opposition, which is still loyal to former President Joseph Estrada, to undermine her presidency and spark another popular uprising to topple her.

Santiago also suspects the allegations are meant to undermine Mrs. Arroyo and eventually oust her.

"If we are talking of politics, then very clearly whoever instigated the controversy or the present scandal is hoping for political results or they were really hoping for a legal result," she said.

Santiago said the proper charges should’ve been filed with the Ombudsman if the plotters’ objective was merely to stamp out jueteng because a Senate inquiry on the scandal was not legally necessary.

"The only (other) possibility is that what they are pursuing is not legal but political in nature, and that means they are hoping that they can elicit so much negative publicity against the administration that a bandwagon can get a sufficient number of impeachment complaints against President Arroyo in the House of Representatives. That is the political result being pursued by this proponent," she said.

Meanwhile, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) disclosed yesterday that two self-confessed jueteng fixers had begun receiving death threats after they discredited Mayor’s allegations.

In a statement to the media, the NBI said it had taken custody of Rizaldo Serilla and Nante Bodino after unidentified men were reported scouting their homes in Albay.

Serilla and Bodino, who were both presented to the media by NBI director Reynaldo Wycoco, earlier claimed that Sen. Panfilo Lacson and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada had paid Mayor P5 million to do a demolition job on the Arroyo administration.

Lacson denied the accusation and presented identification cards showing that Mayor was, in fact, an Arroyo supporter and a member of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo’s Bigkis Pinoy movement in Albay.

Yesterday, however, a former congressional candidate allied with Mrs. Arroyo claimed that Mayor was a Lacson supporter in last year’s presidential election.

"I read in today’s newspapers that a certain Wilfredo "Boy" Mayor of Daraga, Albay has claimed that he ran as an independent candidate for mayor of Daraga in the 2004 elections but that he supported President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo," said a statement from a certain Ito Los Baños which was faxed to the media.

"I wish to state for the record that this is absolutely untrue, and I have personal and direct knowledge that this is false because Daraga City is under the second district where I ran as congressman."

Los Baños said he knew that Mayor "supported Senator Panfilo Lacson’s presidential candidacy through Senator Lacson’s campaign manager in Bicol, Ben Barra."

He said Mayor asked him for funds several times during the campaign period and eventually gave Mayor P50,000.

Los Baños found out in April last year that Mayor was backing Lacson and confronted him about it when Mayor again asked for money. "I heard that he was acting as a chief lieutenant of Mr. Barra."

Mayor denied supporting Lacson and stopped asking for funds after that meeting. "Subsequently, I heard from my organization that Mr. Mayor campaigned against me and the President, and supported my opponent Rep. Carlos Imperial and Sen. Panfilo Lacson," Los Baños’ statement said.

"I also want to clarify that Mr. Mayor was never an active member or supporter of the Bigkis Pinoy Movement or the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for President Movement. I can only surmise that he was able to obtain these membership cards under the pretext that he would support the President’s campaign, or that he was able to get blank cards which proliferated at that time, and affixed his name himself."

The STAR tried to contact Los Baños to verify the authenticity of his statement but telephone calls to him went unanswered.

Despite repeated government crackdowns, the small-town lotteries continue to thrive because local officials and the police reportedly take bribes and turn a blind eye.

Also, politicians are widely believed to be receiving huge political campaign donations from illegal gambling barons during elections.

Proposals to legalize jueteng in the past were promptly shot down mainly because of opposition from the Catholic Church.

Proponents say the game should be legalized because it is impossible to eradicate and the government could earn taxes from it. They also say it is hypocritical of the government to stamp out jueteng while it operates casinos and lotteries.

Critics say legalizing jueteng promotes a "culture of gambling." — With Christina Mendez