Jueteng, prostitution, drug dealing rampant in Pangasinan towns

DAGUPAN CITY — Jueteng, prostitution and illegal drug dealing are rampant in most towns in central Pangasinan, according to a survey conducted by the Lingayen-Dagupan Archdiocese.

Citing the results of the survey conducted from March 1 to April 1, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said illegal gambling, particularly jueteng, is rampant in the towns of Basista, Binmaley, Calasiao, Lingayen, Malasiqui, Mangaldan, San Fabian and Urbiztondo and in the cities of Dagupan and San Carlos.

Illegal drug dealing, the survey shows, is commonplace in Basista, Binmaley, San Fabian, Dagupan City and San Carlos City.

Except for the towns of Laoac, Manaoag, Mangaldan, Mapandan and Sta. Barbara, survey respondents said prostitution was moderate in all other towns under the Lingayen-Dagupan Archdiocese which covers central Pangasinan.

Cruz said survey respondents are "lay leaders in various parishes who are acquainted with these things and are exposed to these realities."

"They are reliable people but that doesn’t mean they are infallible," he said, adding that the results are subject to validation.

The survey is the fourth conducted by the archdiocese on the three concerns. The archdiocese is reportedly the only diocese in the country that undertakes such a survey.

Unlike the third survey where only Gov. Victor Agbayani was furnished a copy, Cruz, this time, also sent copies of the new survey results to Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza Jr., provincial police director; Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin Lim, and Superintendent Noli Talino, Dagupan City police chief.

A few days after the survey was finished, jueteng operations stopped in the province, apparently as an offshoot of the National Summit on Anti-Illegal Gambling and the bickering among some local mediamen over jueteng payola.

Cruz said they will conduct another survey following the jueteng lull. He vowed to furnish a copy of the results to Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina .

Noting that "guerrilla-type" jueteng operations have resurfaced in Pangasinan, Cruz said, "We are not entirely blaming the police for the failure to totally stamp out jueteng because it must be everybody’s concern."

"But we will not stop in our campaign against these vices because we know that everything has its end and the good will always triumph against evil," he added.