Vizcaya board, mayors differ on STL

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — The league of Nueva Vizcaya mayors and the provincial board have taken opposite views on the small town lottery (STL) of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

This, as the provincial board passed last Wednesday a resolution signed by six of its 13 members led by Patricio Dumlao, calling on President Arroyo to exempt this landlocked province from STL operations.

In authoring the resolution, Dumlao, who leads the board’s minority bloc, said they were only "consistent" in their "strong stand against any form of illegal gambling."

Dumlao said they cannot accept the argument that STL would be an effective tool to curb jueteng.

He said this is an "absurd justification," tantamount to the government’s giving up its fight against gambling and immorality.

The other board members who signed the anti-STL resolution are Flaviano Balgos, Maybelle Dumlao, Teodorico Padilla, Reina Nita Tidang, and Jose Evangelista.

For its part, the mayors’ league earlier passed a resolution addressed to the PCSO, expressing support for STL.

"We support (STL) because it (would) help us generate taxes, (provide jobs to) displaced jueteng workers and also stop the illegal numbers game," said Bambang Mayor Pepito Balgos, chairman of the provincial league of municipalities.

Balgos said local officials like him are pinning their hopes on the national government’s effort to legalize jueteng to help displaced workers of the illegal numbers game and generate additional revenues for their various development projects.

Vice Gov. Jose Gambito, the provincial board’s presiding officer, however, said the approved resolution only states that the board members are only against the "experimental operation" of STL and not necessarily totally against it.

Gambito said the board members could reconsider their position once the government-sanctioned STL goes into full operation across the country.

He said the board members who favor STL are the ones really opposing jueteng.

For her part, Gov. Luisa Cuaresma also expressed support for STL, saying it could eradicate jueteng and generate revenues for pro-poor projects.