Jueteng and hypocrisy

It is good to hear from Senator Edgardo Angara that more and more lawmakers now favor making jueteng legal. They agree that "legalizing jueteng would give the government an important source of revenue, curb graft and corruption associated with the numbers game and free up the manpower and resources of the police to go after other crimes."

What’s the dilly dally? Legalize jueteng as soon as possible and once and for all. That can only be done by our lawmakers, not by every tom, dick and harry with self-serving opinions. Let us be clear. The evil of jueteng is not because it is a form of gambling but because it is illegal and its protection spawns a network of corruption. The task for lawmakers is remove jueteng from the shadows and bring it into the bright light of day so it is recognized for what it is.

The hypocrisy of it all is grating. When lawbreakers pay for protection, they not only thwart the law, they also feed government authority and when you feed government authority they become dependent on the hand that feeds them.

Please, Senator Angara, go ahead and get your colleagues to legalize jueteng instead of using it as a political football. If jobs have been created out of illegal jueteng, other jobs will be created out of legal jueteng. There are currently four bills in the Senate to legalize jueteng, said Angara. Let’s watch what happens to those bills. It will reveal who have stakes in keeping it illegal.

According to one source the bulk of the earnings of jueteng, about 93 percent, after protection money is allocated to governors, mayors, congressmen, police chiefs, parish priests – or anyone who has authority to keep law and order goes to the fat cats, the gambling lords. That is why they lord it over government.

We compound the hypocrisy and miss the point if we continue with illegal jueteng while making sporadic attacks on those who make money out of it. Maintaining the status quo means keeping the source of funds flowing to disarm police and politicians from protecting public interest. The prohibition of alcohol in the US in the 20s is a good example of a failure we can learn from on how we might handle illegal jueteng. Although consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of Prohibition, it subsequently increased. The very notion of prohibition made it a tantalizing commodity. Crime increased and became "organized" and corruption of public officials was rampant. Like prohibition of alcohol, the fatal attraction of jueteng is its illegality. Like illegal jueteng, prohibition of alcohol denied the government a significant source of tax revenue. Instead of going to the public purse, the money went to private pockets.

Once jueteng is legalized, it should come under the PCSO or PAGCOR, Angara added. If it means changing charters of the PCSO and Pagcor to assume that function, then it should be done. But he added the government’s role should only be regulatory and it should not have a direct hand in running gambling, be it jueteng, lotto or casino.

It may be an administrative nightmare to recast jueteng into legal gambling but if it has to be done then it has to be done. I am confounded by those who would not venture into new territory because they do not know how it will work What is important is to remove the hypocrisy surrounding illegal jueteng and defang its power to corrupt. The administrative details can follow.

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A COUSIN WHO LOST HIS LIFE FIGHTING JUETENG. A cousin, Rex Emmanuel Real, elected vice mayor of Sta. Maria, Laguna was murdered last year. Relatives said he dared to fight not only the illegal jueteng kingpins of the town but also their political abuses. He rightfully saw that the two fed on each other. He was allegedly warned when he ran for vice mayor under Lakas-CMD that he would not live to sit on the post even if he were to win. He was gunned down while in a billiards hall in front of dozens of witnesses soon after he won the elections. Up to today, the mastermind is at large.

Kasi siya. Ang tigas ng ulo. He was laughed at. His political enemies had earlier warned him but he would not listen. He was heartened by the electoral support the townsfolk gave him. I heard from relatives that after he was killed ‘the small folk were slowly trickling out of the town.’ It is something very like good and bad cowboys in the Wild West and the people caught in between. Poor Rex. He reported the alleged graft and corruption of the town mayor and his allies in the municipal board, all allegedly armed with funds flowing from the illegal jueteng payola, to no avail.

If someone, as brave as he was, dared to challenge the powerful of the town and his family is unable to get justice then there was no point living there, his supporters said. That is a microcosm of a country held under the thumb of illegal jueteng lords. But it might assuage the sadness of the Real family to be reminded that if someone as famous as Ninoy Aquino could be killed in cold blood with the world press behind him and his murder remains unsolved, what could the little vice-mayor from Sta. Maria, Laguna, expect?

I understand that the suspected gunman, father of the late actress, Halina Perez, has been accused of the murder. Her family claims he was falsely accused and that the mastermind trots about while the town cowers in fear. A witness has come forward and the last time I heard from my relatives they were struggling to get witness protection because they could no longer afford to pay for his keep. Thanks to the help of NBI Director, General Wycoco, the witness was put under protection. But who knows for how long? How could they fight the money that flows from illegal jueteng lords?

Soon after he died I got a copy of the message a ne-phew, Deo gave during his necrological rites. To me, this is the real meaning of continuing with illegal jueteng.

"Yesterday was a sad day for the Real family and all our friends. My uncle Rex Real passed away brutally.

He was very nice, caring and warmhearted and always put people ahead of himself. That was why public service was perfect for him. He loved Sta. Maria and the people who lived in it.

I saw the stature of a man who was determined to make a difference. I hope that some day I will also gain that wisdom. I would like to thank the friends and relatives who called and gave their condolences. And lastly, thank you, Kuya Rex."

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