Jueteng-gate

The typical reaction might be: Oh no, not again!

Archbishop Oscar Cruz is a pain the neck of the gambling lords. Deep into retirement, he is still even deeper into his crusade against jueteng.

Over the weekend, the cleric detonated what could be a pretty large political bomb. He declares that the jueteng problem has not only worsened, two powerful officials very close to President Aquino are on the payroll of gambling syndicates.

A congressional hearing on the bishop’s allegations is being organized. Media is hot on the story. The air is thick with speculation about who might be involved, about how high up the totem pole the payola goes.

Unless the issue is dealt with decisively, the speculation will run even wilder. The wilder the speculation runs, the more serious the political damage. We are just a little over two months into this new administration. Accusations as serious as this one about jueteng could alter the political game.

The reaction from the Palace spokespersons is not outright denial. They asked the bishop to support his claim with evidence and name names.

The bishop says he will. This could be the beginning of a really interesting episode.

Heads haven’t rolled yet over the hostage fiasco. Let’s see if heads will roll after the bishop mentions the names of the officials as he said he will.

I recall that immediately after Interior Secretary Jessie Robredo assumed his post, he declared war on illegal gambling. That declaration was immediately countermanded by President Aquino, who said there were other priorities. I found that exchange odd, at the very least.

There should be little surprise, at any rate, if claims are being made about some officials being in bed with the gambling lords. The gambling syndicates and public officials have always had a cozy relationship. As a matter of course, the gambling lords generously share their take with political patrons. That ensures the survival of this portion of our domestic economy.

It is an open secret that undocumented money plays a major part in electoral financing in the country. Contributions from the gambling syndicates pale in comparison only to the protection money that could possibly be mobilized by the drug lords.

We do not know how large a role narcotics money played in the last elections. We do know that narco-politics has become an imminent threat to our democracy — simply because the money drug lords are capable of mobilizing to achieve political goals could overshadow other potential electoral financing sources.

We are sure money from illegal gambling played a large role in the last elections. It always does. Many local campaigns rely on massive funding from gambling lords. The support of these gambling lords is valued more highly by candidates than any other identifiable bloc-voting group.

Squabbling over who controls continuing funding flows from the gambling syndicates often produces bitter factional feuds within the ruling circle. That is a consistent pattern. There will be little surprise if it is established that some of the bitter factional feuds ensuing in this administration is due to precisely that.

Gambling money has made presidents. In 2001, feuding over control of gambling money resulted in the unmaking of a president. Recall that President Estrada’s troubles and eventual ouster began with what was called “Jueteng-gate.”

The expose over gambling money flowing right up to the Palace proved to be the beginning of Estrada’s downfall. We are not sure, at this early stage, what outcomes “Jueteng-gate Part 2” might bring.

Even as we all acknowledge the cozy relationship between illegal gambling and normal politics, people still tend to express outrage over any overt partnership between public officials and gambling lords. The outrage is almost entirely due to the volume of money involved. One estimate of the jueteng payola to highly-placed officials hovers at about P150 million a month.

It is common knowledge, too, that the key to encouraging or discouraging illegal gambling syndicates is the police organization itself. When the police tolerate illegal gambling, it thrives. When it is not tolerated, it shrivels.

It follows, therefore, that control over the money flow from jueteng relies on control over the police organization. This makes the power to assign or reassign police officials a serious issue indeed. Today, that power to assign and reassign police officials is a major bone of contention among the factions in the Aquino administration.

Unless we see men heaving and huffing, pushing large bags of money on the sidewalk, it is very difficult to “prove” gambling payolas. It will, therefore, be quite difficult for Archbishop Cruz to “prove” his allegations by producing receipts or pictures of men heaving and huffing, pushing bags of money.

The reason why no big-time gambling lord has ever gone to jail is that proof of the operation at the higher levels of command-and-control is difficult to come by. At the lower operational levels, it is easy to raid jueteng operations at the lowest level, seizing the paraphernalia that unmistakably indicates illegal gambling.

Archbishop Cruz seems to be sure about his claims. Whether any proof is possible is another point.

But that should not mean that an administration installed on the promise of reform and moral regeneration can easily downplay the cleric’s charges.