Church urges ‘prayer power’ vs gambling

When all things fail, prayer is the only and most powerful option.

With this in mind, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called yesterday for "prayer power" for the elimination of illegal gambling in the country.

Msgr. Hernando Coronel, CBCP secretary-general, said the Catholic Church has undertaken many initiatives and it seems prayer is the only way left for Catholics to fight illegal gambling.

"Let us pray against gambling," Coronel said, noting though that the CBCP has launched an intensified drive against jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling.

"The Church has issued so many pastoral statements. There is also mobilization and we have aligned ourselves with people who are against jueteng," he said in his weekly radio program CBCP on Air.

The CBCP earlier had expressed disgust over the government’s lack of political will to rid the country of illegal gambling, as well as graft and corruption.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina has vowed to eliminate jueteng in one year but it seems that the illegal numbers game continues to flourish in various parts of the country under the very noses of policemen.

Lina said there were 44 gambling lords in the country as of last April.

According to Coronel, the Philippines is lagging behind other countries in Asia because of the culture of gambling and graft and corruption.

"We have to get rid of gambling as well as graft and corruption from our country if we want to progress as a nation," he said.

Coronel said Catholic bishops are deeply concerned over the growing problem on gambling and graft and corruption.