Legalizing jueteng

In Cebu, a police superintendent is reportedly willing to undergo a sex change operation if illegal gambling could be stopped. He nevertheless signed this week a police covenant to eliminate illegal gambling in the province. This was in line with a directive from the top brass of the Philippine National Police to eradicate the illegal numbers games that are widely popular in many parts of the country.

The police superintendent, who understandably did not want to be identified, was expressing the ambivalence of PNP members in carrying out this anti-gambling campaign. The government's general policy on gambling is confusing enough. While the government operates casinos, sweepstakes and lotto and allows jai alai and bingo, other numbers games such as jueteng and masiao are illegal but proliferate anyway. PNP officials have admitted in the past that in many parts of the country, money from gambling lords finance police operations.

Since the early days of this administration, government officials have floated the idea of legalizing jueteng. Stiff opposition from the Church and other sectors, however, snagged the plan. While critics were railing against jueteng, the country got lotto, jai alai and bingo. Now opponents of gambling are wondering if they will wake up one day with jueteng legalized. A few days ago, officials of the PNP and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office along with Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora met with several persons who at one time or another have been tagged as big-time gambling lords. The agenda: the legalization of jueteng.

This meeting became known to the public only because it was revealed by the opposition. A sheepish Zamora said he did not know he was meeting with suspected gambling lords. The PNP said its commanders had no evidence against the gambling operators and thus could not arrest them. To make up, PNP chief Panfilo Lacson ordered yet another crackdown on jueteng operators. That's where the police superintendent and his promise of a sex change came in.

Critics are accusing the administration of building a nation of gamblers. The administration does not seem to mind, judging from the number of gambling games legalized since 1998. If the government wants to legalize jueteng, the least it can do is to carry out its plan with transparency. The government must level with the citizenry and open the plan to public debate.