EDITORIAL - Hurrah, but will it last?

Because the officials involved are some of the highest ranking in the Philippine National Police, and because a number of them are seen to be close to Malacañang, the ouster of seven PNP officers has attracted national attention. It has also drawn acclaim from many sectors, which is understandable since the seven were relieved from their posts ostensibly because they failed to curb jueteng operations in their respective jurisdictions.

The seven, led by Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay, police commander for Metro Manila, and Chief Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya, police director for Central Luzon, will face administrative sanctions for dereliction of duty, Lina announced yesterday. He vowed that more heads will roll in the PNP. He also started taking on local government officials, warning that they would lose their supervisory powers over their respective police forces for their failure to curb jueteng.

Lina’s campaign has been lauded by many sectors. The question is whether he can sustain the campaign. There have been numerous crackdowns on jueteng in the past, all of which died a natural death. The Philippine National Police has a list of at least 44 notorious jueteng lords nationwide, some of whom have been arrested in the past. But none of those arrested ever spent enough time behind bars to discourage them from resuming operations as soon as anti-jueteng crackdowns ended.

One of the seven officers relieved, Manila police chief Nicolas Pasinos, was being realistic when he said "zero gambling" was impossible in Metro Manila in the near future. He might as well have referred to the entire country. It’s an open secret that jueteng operations nationwide are protected by public officials. Some police officers have even admitted that jueteng proceeds finance legitimate police operations.

Jueteng is simply too lucrative and too popular among the masses, and the penalties for gambling violations are so light they are a joke. As in the past, this latest crackdown will initially reap praise. As in the past, jueteng operations will slow down during the crackdown. And as in the past, jueteng operators will simply wait out the storm, then resume operations.

Public officials who benefit from illegal gambling deserve to be punished. But it will take more than a police revamp to deal with the problem of illegal gambling. National leaders may even have to redefine policies on gambling in general.