No jueteng in Central Luzon, regional police chief insists

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — "What jueteng? There’s no jueteng in Central Luzon."

Thus said an apparently irked Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan, Central Luzon police director, as he dismissed reports that the illegal numbers game has resurfaced in the region purportedly to finance the candidacies of certain politicians in the May elections.

Rafanan dismissed the reports as the "maneuverings of politics." "There is STL (small town lottery) but there is no jueteng," he said, admitting though that there could be some jueteng "bookies" using STL as a front.

"They (bet collectors) could even have STL identification cards but they are operating on their own," he added.

Over the weekend, a local newspaper reported that multisectoral groups plan to put up a Pampanga chapter of the Krusadang Bayan Laban sa Jueteng chaired by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz.

Spearheading the local Krusada chapter, according to the report, is a Catholic priest it identified only as Fr. Crusada.

"When we reach the critical mass, you can be sure that this crusade will aggressively and openly campaign against candidates supported by jueteng," the paper quoted the priest as saying.

The priest also warned of "the grim prospect of jueteng lords controlling the whole of Pampanga. No God-fearing citizen should allow this."

"We will draw our strength in our numbers. We were not afraid of the Marcoses, why should we be afraid of gambling lords?" the priest said in a statement later distributed to local media.

He said his group will not form any tactical alliance with political parties or politicians "to prevent any claim that our campaign is politically motivated."

The priest noted that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) itself earlier enjoined "all the faithful not to vote for candidates who are being financed by jueteng money."

"We are heeding CBCP’s and (Krusada’s) call because it is for the good of our province, our fellow Kapampangans and our country. Our only motive is to prevent Pampanga from being branded as the jueteng capital of the Philippines, since it is a direct slap on the face of President Arroyo, who is our cabalen," the priest said.

"We are calling on all members of all religious groups, the civil society, sectoral groups, and NGOs to make a stand against jueteng and its candidates. Our group will soon meet with Bishop Cruz. In the meantime, we will wage a guerrilla campaign. The provincewide offensive will come out at the proper time," he added.

Meanwhile, the local newsweekly Pampanga News cited "sources" close to former fourth district Rep. Rimpy Bondoc as saying that he was studying the formation of a "third force" in the gubernatorial race.

This, as provincial board member Lilia Pineda, who is running for governor, is married to Bong Pineda who used to be tagged as an alleged jueteng lord, and Gov. Mark Lapid, who is seeking reelection, has been implicated in alleged lahar sand quarrying anomalies.

"There is no choice between illegal quarrying and jueteng. Only someone who has moral ascendancy should lead Pampanga," the Pampanga News quoted one of its sources as saying.