Ecija jueteng workers demand jobs, bishop’s ouster

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — For the second time, close to 200 jueteng workers, along with their families, trooped to the residence of Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena yesterday to press the Catholic Church to provide them with alternative sources of livelihood or refrain from opposing the illegal numbers game here.

The displaced jueteng workers have included in their demand the transfer of Villena, whom they held responsible for last week’s successful raid of jueteng dens in neighboring Solano town, which also led to the arrest of 13 of their colleagues.

However, the irate jueteng workers, mostly kabos (chief collectors) and kubradores (bet collectors) again failed to meet Villena. Fr. Enrique Tiongson, who met them inside the conference hall of the sprawling clergy house, said that ‘somebody’ fetched the bishop earlier in the day.

Tiongson, who also faced the jueteng workers last week, however, assured them that the bishop would come up with a "press statement" regarding their demands and grievances. Such a statement, he said, will be even aired over the Catholic Church-run dwRV-Radio Veritas here. 

"We want the bishop to face us. We’ll keep coming back here to personally convey to him our grievances. We’ll let him feel our sentiments," said 33-year old James Cadelina, chief kabo of Solano town.

Cadelina, who has been a jueteng worker for more than 10 years now, was one of the 13 arrested and eventually jailed for almost a week following the raid in Solano by Camp Crame-based anti-gambling task force operatives last Jan. 16.

He said he was released from jail the other day after his family posted bail of P8,000 and a surety bond for his temporary liberty. His wife and mother, Cadelina said, had to sacrifice a number of meals as well as borrow money with high interest rates just to free him from detention.

Cadelina now blames Villena for his family’s ordeal. He said one of his two kids even stopped going to school because of the embarrassment, especially when his face, along with other arrested jueteng workers, were splashed on national television during the raid.

If the bishop could not provide them with alternative livelihood, Cadelina said that it’s better for the Catholic cleric to refrain from opposing jueteng or get out of the province.

Another displaced jueteng worker Petronila Hilala accused Villena of being insensitive to the plight of poor jueteng workers like her.

Through savings from jueteng, she said they were able to rebuild their modest house after it was destroyed by fire. They were also able to send their children to school through earnings from the illegal lottery.

"Now that jueteng’s gone, where will we get our food as well as money for the education of our children? Its good the bishop is living under the comfort of a big house and a luxury room with a lot of money," said another jueteng worker James Gonzales, 40, of Bambang town. 

The jueteng workers threatened to launch a "signature campaign" against Villena and expose his alleged "luxurious lifestyle." They said they would join forces with pro-miners here to force him out from the province.

Despite the harsh remarks, Tiongson calmly assured them that all their demands and grievances would be brought to the bishop’s attention. The Church, he added, is now in the process of "networking" with other groups so that they could meet some of their demands, especially the need for alternative income sources.