Isabela bishop scores police over jueteng

GAMU, Isabela — Outspoken Bishop Sergio Utleg, one of the key allies of Gov. Grace Padaca, criticized the police the other day for failing to stop jueteng in the province.

In a meeting here with 60 parish priests, Utleg noted the "seemingly unabated proliferation and even increasing number of jueteng operations in the province’s four districts."

This, despite Padaca’s call for the police authorities to stop "this evil and illegal numbers game," he said. In her inaugural speech, Padaca vowed a jueteng-free Isabela under her watch.

Fr. Noel Cruz, parish priest of Santiago City, said all parish priests in Isabela will issue a statement during the Christ the King celebration next month denouncing jueteng and other illegal activities in the province. — Lito Salatan