No jueteng in Pangasinan, 6 mayors insist

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines  – Six Pangasinan town mayors maintained that there is no jueteng in the province, saying they have standing orders to their respective police chiefs not to allow the illegal numbers game and other illegal activities, especially prohibited drugs. 

“They say in the town of Mangatarem, there is jueteng. That’s not true,” Mayor Teddy Cruz told local newsmen the other day in a hurriedly called press conference in a restaurant here. 

“If you want, you can come to Mangatarem and verify for yourself the veracity of the news,” he added. 

Lingayen Mayor Ernesto Castañeda Jr., executive vice president of the Pangasinan Mayors’ League, said, “To be fair to us and also to Gov. Amado Espino, there is really no jueteng (here).” 

He said they have been advising their police officials to monitor illegal activities, especially jueteng and drug-related problems in their areas. 

“We hope Archbishop (Oscar Cruz) would also know that we are doing our best to make our areas peaceful and free from any illegal activities,” he said.

Cruz, chairman of the Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng (People’s Crusade Against Jueteng), recently said jueteng has resurfaced in the Ilocos region (Region 1), including Pangasinan. 

Castañeda said they respect the Church but they could not understand why Pangasinan is always on the spotlight on jueteng, giving local governments a bad image.

He said they hope the jueteng issue in Pangasinan would not be blown out of proportion.

The statements of Cruz and Castañeda were corroborated by other mayors present during the press conference like Lorenzo Cerezo (Binmaley), Eddie Ballesteros (Aguilar), Manolito de Leon (Basista), and Arman Domantay (Malasiqui) who all swore that their respective areas are “jueteng-free 100 percent.”