Filipino archbishop protests over illegal gambling

While "jueteng" (illegal number gambling) operations have stopped in Pangasinan and in Bicol, (north-east of Manila) Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said the illegal numbers game is still being played in other provinces. "Even Director General Oscar Calderon (the Philippine national police chief) has openly admitted that jueteng in the country is not yet totally wiped out. I agree with him. But I also agree that jueteng has diminished much," Cruz said. The archbishop said information gathered by his group showed that jueteng operations persist in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Laguna. While he was happy with the "diminishing jueteng," Cruz said the game was deliberately being stopped to introduce its "twin," the small town lottery, under the cloak of legality. "It is also commonly known that [some] companies are dummy corporations of a good number of jueteng lords," he added. Cruz said this illegal number game would not be attractive to operators because they would retain only 48 percent of the collected bet money. He said 42 percent are for local governments, the police, PCSO and collectors and taxes. "If there was no cheating, it would be impossible for operators to continue operating illegal number game," he said.