President Estrada and the Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday denied a congressman's allegation that the PNP and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) would legalize and operate jueteng.
But Mr. Estrada did say that the PCSO is currently studying a proposal to revive small town lotteries implemented during the Aquino administration in a failed bid to eradicate jueteng.
Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol claimed in a privilege speech last Tuesday that the PNP and the PCSO have already met with jueteng operators and told them that the PCSO will be operating the numbers game without the imprimatur of Congress.
They allegedly even came up with an arrangement on how the PCSO, the PNP, the jueteng operators and local government units would share the earnings.
The President quickly said that nothing has been approved on whether or not to implement the proposal to establish small town lotteries.
"So they (the PCSO) are still studying this and therefore there is no truth to this yet that we're going to implement it already," he said in an interview over dzMM radio. "Because we know how difficult really it is to stop these jueteng operations."
Mr. Estrada recalled having difficulty himself during his 17 years as San Juan mayor in trying to rid his town of jueteng.
He said it is up to Congress whether or not to legalize jueteng and other forms of gambling.
PNP Director Reynaldo Wycoco, deputy chief for administration, denied Apostol's claim and said that as long as jueteng remains illegal they will run after operators.
A press statement issued by PNP spokesman Supt. Nicanor Bartolome said that the PNP, in fact, has been asking Congress to increase penalties for illegal gambling.
According to the statement, police conducted 28,000 operations against illegal-gambling nationwide last year. As a result, a total of 21,697 people were arrested, 10,108 cases were filed in court, and P8.4 million in cash bets were confiscated.
PNP chief Director General Panfilo Lacson could not be reached for comment by The STAR as he is reportedly attending an official week-long function in the United States.
According to Apostol, 14 percent of the jueteng profits would go to maintainers, 2.5 percent to the local police, 2.5 percent to the PNP itself, five percent to local government units, five percent to the PCSO and six percent for operating expenses.
These total only 35 percent of the earnings. Apostol did not explain where the rest will go.
Apostol urged his colleagues to stop the legalization of jueteng, saying this would set a precedent that might lead to the legalization of other illegal activities like prostitution.
Objecting to the reported plan to legalize jueteng, Vice President and Social Welfare Secretary Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said legali-zing the numbers game would be counter-productive for the economy. -- With a report from Mayen Jaymalin