PNP: No need to create anti-jueteng task force

MANILA, Philippines - Even with the directive of President Aquino to put a stop to illegal gambling operations, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said there is no need to create a special unit that would focus on the campaign, particularly against jueteng.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said the police would just intensify the campaign against illegal gambling and coordinate the efforts with local officials.

“We encourage other government services and the local government units, and even non-governmental organizations and all sectors and even the community, to get involved in the campaign against jueteng,” Cruz said.

Cruz stressed the PNP still needs the support of the local government units to ensure the success of the campaign against illegal gambling.

He said the PNP could not do it alone without the help of local officials.

“We cannot say for sure that we could completely eradicate illegal gambling…we are going to implement what is implementable. Maybe we could achieve the goal when the time comes,” he said. 

Cruz said the campaign against illegal gambling needs the participation of all sectors, considering the poor whose principal source of livelihood is collecting bets for illegal gambling operations.

Over the weekend, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo called on operators of small town lottery (STL) and other state-sponsored gambling schemes in the country to prove that their operations are legal.

Robredo made the call amid reports that some illegal gambling operators are hiding behind STL operations.

Anti-gambling advocate retired archbishop Oscar Cruz said he would initially provide Robredo the names of 30 suspected jueteng operators.

Cruz revealed that he had already compiled the list of high-profile jueteng operators from the provinces of Batangas, Pampanga and Pangasinan.

The retired Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop and founder of the group “Krusadang Bayan Laban sa Sugal” earlier testified before the Senate, revealing the massive gambling operations in the country, particularly in Central Luzon.

Cruz recalled former senator Aquilino Pimentel describing the town of Lubao in Pampanga as the “Vatican of jueteng.”

Cruz, however, refused to reveal the names of the 30 illegal gambling operators. He said he was being cautious since he had no first hand information on their identities.

“As far as I am concerned, what I know is what they tell me. I have no direct knowledge but then if I am forced to say it, like during the time in the Senate, then we would name them,” he said.

Cruz said he would also inform Robredo of their group’s system in monitoring illegal gambling activities in the provinces.

According to Cruz, their group had tapped the services of volunteers from different dioceses in the country to help them gather information.

“We are also prepared to give seminars in different areas because we have materials to explain what jueteng is all about, and not the excuse that it helps the poor people,” Cruz said.

Cruz expressed confidence that Robredo could effectively carry out the presidential policy against illegal gambling.

He said Robredo “is the right man for the right assignment.”

“The only thing I want to think about is that under the DILG you have the PNP and the local government units … these are the keys if there is jueteng in one area,” Cruz said.

Cruz is hoping that within 90 days, “we would already see if there has been changes” in the anti-jueteng campaign.