Stop jueteng in 1 week, Isabela cop chief told

ILAGAN, Isabela — Gov. Grace Padaca gave the provincial police director yesterday a one-week ultimatum to get rid of jueteng, which she admitted has resurfaced in almost all parts of the province.

Padaca also called the attention of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao to the resumption of jueteng in the province, saying the illegal numbers game has gone unabated since last week.

Meanwhile, the provincial board passed two resolutions, one condemning the resurgence of jueteng, and the other, urging Lomibao to implement the PNP’s one-strike policy.

Padaca said her province deserves a better provincial police director should the incumbent, Senior Superintendent Oscar Fiesta, fails to stamp out jueteng.

"I’m sorry to bring this up to you (Gen. Lomibao) again but jueteng has crept back into Isabela and how! All the so-called raids that zero in on the cobradores are futile," she said.

Padaca said she has been receiving numerous reports, mostly through text messages from concerned Isabelinos, about the revival of jueteng in nearly all parts of the province.

She said these reports only show that Isabelinos are against the return of jueteng and "this should be respected and taken into serious consideration by people who rationalize or try to justify matters just to have jueteng again in the province."

Padaca said she and Chief Superintendent Jefferson Soriano, Cagayan Valley police director, agreed to give Fiesta one week to restore the province back to its "jueteng-free" status or he will be relieved from his post.

Fiesta, who was Soriano’s former chief of staff, replaced Senior Superintendent Percival Barba as acting provincial police director last month following the New People’s Army raid on the police station of Dinapigue town.

"Sabi nga nila, nang dumating si Fiesta nag-piyesta naman ang jueteng dito (As they have said, when Fiesta came, jueteng had a fiesta here)," said Padaca.

She dared the police to show proof that they have had no hand in the resurgence of jueteng, contrary to public perception.

Earlier, the local police claimed that it had thwarted attempts to revive the illegal numbers game in certain areas, including several barangays in this capital town.

According to reports, jueteng reared its ugly head again last April 28 and went into full-swing two days later.

Fiesta said he has ordered his men to conduct raids and arrest jueteng bet collectors.

So far, however, police raids on suspected gambling dens in Alicia and Angadanan towns earlier this week yielded nothing.

Despite these raids, Padaca said jueteng still thrives in most towns, based on reports of concerned citizens.

Earlier, Alicia Mayor Napoleon Dy, who heads the Isabela mayors’ league, said emissaries of jueteng operators had tried to convince some mayors to revive jueteng in their localities.

But Dy said the mayors turned them down, despite offers of goodwill.

Gamu Mayor Fernando Cumigad claimed that a local official was behind the revival of jueteng here. He, however, declined to identify the local official.

Cumigad as well as Mayors Benedict Calderon and Joseph Panganiban of Roxas and Angadanan towns, respectively, however, claimed that their towns are jueteng-free.

Earlier this week, the provincial board led by Vice Gov. Ramon Reyes passed a resolution "strongly condemning" the resurgence of jueteng and "the proliferation of other forms of illegal gambling in various parts of the province."

"Jueteng is an anathema to society that has to be eradicated, so much so that its resurgence in the province must be condemned," stated the two-page resolution authored by board member Jesus Cruz.

In another resolution sponsored by board member Ysmael Atienza, the provincial board asked Lomibao to enforce the PNP’s one-strike-policy in the province. 

"The officialdom of Isabela has adopted as a matter of highest policy an all-out war against jueteng and other forms of gambling… (and) in order to stop the resurgence of jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling, the imposition of the one-strike policy is imperative," the resolution stated.

Meanwhile, jueteng has also reportedly resurfaced in neighboring Nueva Vizcaya, with "guerrilla operations" in some interior villages.