Gambling lords defy order

The campaign against "jueteng" waged by Interior Secretary Joey Lina entered its third month today but not one of the 44 gambling lords he earlier identified has been arrested and hauled to jail.

In Metro Manila alone, after 60 days, Lina can only show the relief of a precint commander in Quezon City for tolerating "jueteng" and the arrest of some 150 bet collectors and bettors, in raids, some of which were found to be "stage-managed" or "hingi-huli."

A number of police officials interviewed by The Star said, at the rate the campaign is going, Lina’s wish to rid the country of "jueteng" in a year’s time is doomed to fail.

"Secretary Lina is making a lot of noises but those on the ground are not moving to stamp out "jueteng" not only in Metro Manila but also in the provinces," said a police general, noting that, at present, the illegal numbers game continues with impunity all over the country. "He’s wasting his time issuing severe warnings and punishments because ranking police and government officials are ignoring his directives."

The police general pointed out that during the time of Senator Robert Barbers and former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim with the Manila police, they showed political will when they had gambling lords arrested and herded to jail a few days after announcing their "jueteng" crackdowns. But gambling lords are released after posting a measly P4,000 bail and Congress is now working to raise the penalty for illegal gambling to make life harder for them.

Lina may be credited for stamping out "jueteng" in his turf during his term as governor of Laguna but it seems that his nationwide drive this time will fail.

"During the time of Barbers and Lim, gambling lords shivered out of fear at mere mention of their names because they knew they meant business," said the police general who refused to be identified. "But to tell you frankly, gambling lords monitored the past few days continue laughing their way to the bank and seem unmindful of Lina’s arrest orders for them."

In Metro Manila alone, the Western Police District (WPD) showed zero perforamance against "jueteng" for the period May 11 to 21. But elements of the Regional Intelligence and Special Operations Office (RISOO) arrested 10 people and confiscated P3,500 in cash bets during a raid Thursday night on a "jueteng" joint operated by a certain Milo Samson in Wagas, Tondo. Samson eluded arrest but his maintainer, a certain Alex Mabasa, a retired Manila policeman, was among those arrested by men of Superintendent Bayani de la Rea, RISOO chief. The RISOO raid confirmed reports that "jueteng" lords are still at it in Manila but men of Chief Superintendent Nick Pasinos seem unaware of their continued operations. The precinct commander whose jurisdiction includes the raided "jueteng" den will likely suffer the fate of Chief Inspector Roland Sigaya, who was relieved last week by acting Metro Manila police director Chief Superintendent Rowland Albano after RISOO agents arrested 16 people and confiscated P358 in bets in his jurisdiction. Sigaya was the first police official to be sacked for ignoring Lina’s "jueteng" campaign.

But the police general is not losing hope. He expressed belief that Lina’s "jueteng" drive would make a turnaround in its third month but not if Task Force Jericho continues coordinating their operations with local police stations.

"By mere coordination, you are alerting the local police units who are most likely in cahoots with gambling operators," the police general said.