Nueva Vizcaya jueteng-free anew, declares governor

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — It was back — for more than three weeks — and now it’s gone again, hopefully forever as Church-led groups, which raised hell over its revival, demand.

Last Friday, Gov. Rodolfo Agbayani declared this landlocked province jueteng-free once more, vowing that the illegal numbers game would never gain roots here under his watch.

"I am happy to announce this province is again free from jueteng. As law-abiding citizens, we have proven time and again that such (illegal activities) have no place here," said Agbayani, a Lingkod Bayan awardee for transforming Nueva Vizcaya into a jueteng-free zone.

Agbayani said jueteng operators might have thought that he and Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena have waned in their campaign against the illegal numbers game, which had been non-existent in the province for more than two years.

"I hope they (jueteng operators) were able to get our message clear. We don’t want any kind of illegal gambling here," he said.

For his part, Villena, before leaving for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia earlier this week, urged parishioners to be more vigilant against any attempt to resurrect jueteng in the province.

Villena, co-chairman of the Bishops-Businessmen Conference, said he is ready to face any libel case to be filed against him for accusing Isabela Gov. Faustino Dy Jr. and Chief Superintendent Romulo Sales, Cagayan Valley police director, of being allegedly behind the short-lived revival of jueteng in his diocese.

He challenged Dy to make good his threat to file libel charges against him for hurling the accusations.

Both Dy and Sales have denied Villena’s allegations, with the governor threatening to sue the bishop for libel.