But at Malacañang, President Arroyo strongly indicated she would veto any bills passed by Congress which would legalize jueteng operations all over the country.
However, Mrs. Arroyo said she would not stop Congress from exercising its "prerogatives" to legislate such a proposal.
"Jueteng is not only a form of gambling — it has become a way of life for many," she said. "It is not surprising that people bet their hopes on this poor man’s game."
Ejercito noted that curbing jueteng is not easy, and prohibiting it is difficult. She pointed out that despite various laws enacted against illegal gambling, the government has failed to go after big-time syndicates and operators.
"Sadly, those who sincerely wage war against these criminals are the ones being implicated, while the guilty ones remain scot-free, and are given preferential treatment in government, particularly by officials in cahoots with them," the neophyte senator charged.
She also pointed out that jueteng, which rakes in a daily collection of P50 million in Luzon alone, is a tremendous source of corruption.
"It has attracted the interest not only of unscrupulous individuals but also of corrupt politicians," she added.
She expressed the belief that legalizing jueteng would curb official corruption and generate needed revenue for the government.
"Through its legalization, the government can finally collect the revenues sourced from jueteng , make use of the proceeds to finance important government programs and projects, deny syndicates opportunity to benefit from it, and stamp out corruption," she said.
Ejercito authored Senate Bill No. 2261 which seeks to establish a numbers game called jueteng under the sole control and supervision of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor).
Pagcor will be authorized to establish provincial, city and municipal outlets to operate and supervise jueteng.
The bill states that "no individual or private entity shall be engaged directly or indirectly in the operation of jueteng." It also bans Pagcor from issuing any franchise or license relating to jueteng.
As proposed by Ejercito, 20 percent of the gross proceeds from jueteng shall be allocated for the services of authorized collectors, their supervisors and other personnel, 20 percent to pay for the winning tickets, and the rest, to be placed under the Presidential Social Development Fund of Pagcor and other related programs.
"I’m against the legalization of jueteng," she said. "That’s a congressional prerogative to file bills and tackle them. But on the part of the administration, certainly this is not an administration measure."
Under the Constitution, bills passed and approved by both chambers of Congress automatically go to the President for enactment as she either signs them or they lapse into law unless otherwise vetoed by her.
There have been previous attempts to legalize jueteng but none has succeeded beyond committee level. During the 10th Congress, the House committee on games and amusements headed by then Pangasinan Rep. Amado Perez approved a consolidated bill legalizing jueteng but Congress adjourned without it reaching the floor.
Recently, the League of Municipalities also called for the legalization of jueteng despite the recent campaign of Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina Jr. to eradicate it.
So far, no big fish has been caught in the campaign against jueteng although it has resulted in the sudden removal of seven ranking police officers who had reportedly not done much against it.
Estrada was impeached for allegedly receiving a regular jueteng payroll from former Ilocos Sur governor Luis Singson.
Singson is the main witness in the ongoing plunder trial of Estrada before the Sandiganbayan.
Lina, on the other hand, clarified yesterday that the bill supported by the administration contains amendments to existing laws that would increase the penalties against jueteng and other illegal gambling activities.
"We need to ask Congress to speed up the proposal to increase the penalties for illegal gambling activities," Lina said.
He said the DILG has submitted its proposals on the upgraded penalties to Sen. Robert Barbers, a former Manila officere before he entered politics.
"We cannot really proceed with vigor (against) jueteng because the penalties are so light. Even if we arrest (people) everyday, the gambling lords can easily bail out their collectors because the fine is as low as P400 to P2,000 only," Lina said.
He said that only three weeks ago, a jueteng collector in Pampanga, a certain Melchor Caluag alias Ngongo, was arrested in La Union. But after he posted bail, Caluag may be back in business, Lina said. — With Marichu Villanueva, Perseus Echeminada