Senate summons Robredo, Puno

MANILA, Philippines - Top interior and police officials have been invited to a Senate hearing on Tuesday to shed light on the extent of jueteng operations in the country.

Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, Senate Blue Ribbon committee chairman, said he has invited Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo; Undersecretary Rico Puno; Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Raul Bacalzo; the police regional directors of Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and Mimaropa; Archbishop Oscar Cruz, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office special operations department manager Romualdo Quiñones; and retired PNP chief Jesus Verzosa.

Guingona said the hearing is not intended to determine what must be done to stop the illegal numbers game.

“We have to clarify the purpose of the Blue Ribbon investigation. It is an attempt to find out the problem,” he said.

“In this case, what is the issue? Illegal gambling. What is the purpose of the investigation? To find out how we can stop it through the law.”

Bacalzo: I have no jueteng links

PNP chief Deputy Director General Raul Bacalzo denied yesterday benefiting from jueteng.

“Over the past few days, I have been a victim of vicious attacks by character assassins who unfairly and baselessly linked my name to the operations of illegal numbers game, all of which I vehemently and strongly deny,” he said.

“I do not know personally this person Sandra Cam. I have never met her and I have never been assigned anywhere in Bicol.”

Bacalzo said since 2002, he has been assigned to various administrative jobs at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

“Thus it cannot be physically possible for myself to be involved in jueteng operations in Bicol or elsewhere for that matter,” he said.

“I can surmise that her accusations against me could only be a sequel to the manufactured issues contained in a fabricated white paper circulated by persons with obviously dubious motives to destroy my reputation.”

Bacalzo has ordered police regional directors, and the directors of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Intelligence Group to immediately conduct an intensified campaign against all forms of illegal gambling, particularly jueteng.

Bacalzo said police regional directors were ordered to submit their respective comprehensive plans against illegal gambling in coordination with local governments.

“From these plans will evolve what is intended to stomp out illegal gambling, particularly jutting, once and for all by addressing its economic, socio-cultural, political, legal and law enforcement dimensions,” he said.

Bacalzo said the Directorate for Operations will monitor on a daily basis the performance of every police provincial and regional office.

“Time and again, the issue of jueteng has always been the bane of society,” he said.

“The jueteng problem has lingered for so long that there is no point in making excuses. The call of the times is for strengthened partnership between all concerned sectors to meet the problem head on.”

De Lima assures witnesses of protection

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima assured yesterday witnesses linking top government officials
to jueteng that they would receive protection from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Speaking to The STAR, De Lima said they will initially be placed under NBI custody and later placed under the witness protection program if they are qualified.

“If warranted by the nature and level of security threats they have been receiving, we can place them under protective custody of the NBI for the meantime,” she said.

“These witnesses will be placed in the witness protection program if they will qualify. The program has its security arrangements separate from that of NBI. So if they qualify, they will be transferred from NBI custody.

“We can guarantee them protection just as long as they submit to the process.”

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz said he has four witnesses to prove his allegations that some top government officials and military generals have been benefiting from jueteng.

These witnesses have been delivering payola to the government officials and military generals, he added.

Cruz said that he would appear before Congress to shed light on his allegations.

“With this new Congress... okay, why not,” he said.

“I’m willing to give it a chance... But this would be the last chance... After this, if nothing happens, then I’ll quit.”

Cruz said the “worsening problem” of jueteng is a “test case” for the administration.

“I still believe that the President has clean hands... has the moral ascendancy to govern... The challenge is for the administration to do something about it... come on, do it!” he said.

Efforts to legalize jueteng would be pointless because its nature is to be illegal, he added.

Cruz said he is willing to name names during an executive session with senators on Tuesday.

He will face senators without any lawyer, he added.

Cruz said he received a card with “Shut up” in bold letters after he revealed jueteng payola to people close to President Aquino.

“I did not receive any coffin but someone sent me a photo as a warning (against) my exposé,” he said.

He also received a lot of checks addressed to him but he was not sure if the checks have funds, Cruz said.

Rural banks deny jueteng link

An umbrella organization of rural banks denied yesterday allegations of Cruz that some of them are being used as conduits to pay off some top government officials and military generals.

Vicente Mendoza, Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines (RBAP) executive director, said transactions of rural banks are closely monitored by management, as well as regulators, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Anti-Money Laundering Council, and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.

“We ask that Bishop Cruz not drag the rural banking industry into this illegal gambling mess,” he said.

“Rural Banks are at the forefront of countryside development and it is not our desire to be used in jueteng activities.

“Rural banks strictly comply with BSP, PDIC and AMLA regulations.”

Mendoza said rural banks operate very much like the bigger banks, only on a smaller scale.

“There is no room for laxity,” he said.

“There are guidelines prescribed in the AMLA Law that cover suspicious transactions and these guidelines are strictly adhered to by rural banks.”

More than 600 rural banks operate nationwide with a total network of over 2,100 branches, Mendoza said.

Governors back Aquino campaign vs jueteng

Provincial governors backed yesterday President Aquino’s campaign against jueteng.

Speaking to reporters during the weekly Broadcasters Forum at Rembrandt hotel, Oriental Mindoro Gov. Alfonso Umali, League of Governors of the Philippines president, said they are now in the process of determining who among the governors are involved in jueteng.

“Local executives and the police are the key factor in the fight against jueteng,” he said.

“If the governor or mayor is against the operation, jueteng will not prosper in the locality.”

Umali said the names of governors involved in jueteng have been cropping up.

However, it would be unfair to release their names without any evidence against them, he added.

Umali said Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Singson has sought the NBI’s help to prove that he is no longer involved in jueteng in the Ilocos region.

Singson’s name continues to crop up in connection with jueteng operations, he added.

Umali said in Oriental Mindoro, the provincial government has declared an all-out war against jueteng.

Marvin Sy, Philippine Star