Anti-jueteng czar and Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn learned this the hard way, as he officially gave up his post yesterday with regrets that only organized operations of the illegal numbers game in Luzon had been neutralized.
"Let’s face the reality that jueteng is already embedded" in the lives of Filipinos, Hagedorn told reporters during the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo Hotel forum in Quezon City.
He said he had already fulfilled his duty of conducting dialogues with local officials and jueteng operators to end the organized illegal numbers game in Luzon.
Hagedorn clarified, though, that this success was a collective effort on the part of the national police, local government leaders and civil society, particularly citing the help of anti-jueteng crusader Archbishop Oscar Cruz.
"I never claimed personal credit for the fact that organized jueteng operations have completely ceased in all areas where jueteng was reported to be widespread," Hagedorn said in a statement.
These areas, he said, were Ilocos Region down to the Bicol Region, including the Cordillera Autonomous Region and National Capital Region.
He added that despite the absence of any budget allocation for the task force and the "very short time given to it," the job was done "using friendly persuasion."
Hagedorn, on the other hand, admitted that so-called guerrilla operations continue because jueteng is the only means of livelihood for people in certain poor areas to the point that cabos, collectors are willing to face arrest just to survive.
"Jueteng personnel are willing to go to jail because they will have free meals inside," he said.
He hinted that with the lapse of the anti-illegal gambling task force deadline, law enforcement agencies would now go after guerrilla operators. "Friendly persuasion is now over. The next phase will be law enforcement."
Hagedorn also clarified that his mandate as anti-illegal gambling czar was only limited to jueteng operations, and had nothing to do with operations of Masiao, "Last Two" and other organized illegal numbers game in the southern part of the country.
"My role was only to reach out to local officials to help President Arroyo eradicate jueteng," he said.
Hagedorn blames extreme poverty as the root cause of jueteng and suggested alternative livelihood programs for families dependent on the game.
"Unless and until such time that the government and religious leaders succeed in making people understand that gambling is a vice, that it is immoral, and that it is, in fact, anti-people, Filipinos will always look for something to bet on."
Hagedorn said he has already submitted recommendations to the President on how to deal with jueteng and other illegal numbers games.
Among these is to offer displaced jueteng personnel other means of livelihood through the proposed "Small Town" lottery of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and other legal numbers games.
The proposal to revive Small Town, he said, was put forward by mayors during their summit in Puerto Princesa City.
Hagedorn’s other recommendations in his final report to President Arroyo included a massive and sustained information and education campaign for people to understand "the evils of jueteng." The government, he added, "must conduct a moral recovery.
Another proposal was for the Department of Interior and Local Government to implement strict disciplinary action on local government executives and local PNP officials "if jueteng is found to have resurfaced in their areas of responsibility."
DSWD Secretary Luwalhati Pablo said P3,000 to P5,000 in livelihood assistance will be provided to each displaced jueteng worker.
A package assistance of some P25,000, on the other hand, awaits a group of at least five persons who want to form a cooperative or business.
"These people need our assistance. So in coordination with the local government units, we will conduct a survey in the community to identify these jueteng workers and to know the kind of assistance that they need," she noted.
In July, the President appointed Hagedorn as anti-jueteng czar. Hagedorn was given until Sept. 15 to eradicate jueteng. The deadline expired with Hagedorn admitting his failure to complete the task. Hagedorn estimated there are 200,000 people working in the P20-billion jueteng industry.
But according to Pablo, the DSWD does not have the funds to finance the economic packages needed by jueteng workers. — With Sheila Crisostomo