DAGUPAN CITY–Life was never the same again for this man of cloth who hogged the headlines in 2005 for his unrelenting anti-jueteng campaign.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Cruz whose name is almost synonymous with the campaign against jueteng in the Philippines, is fighting the giants, as some people say, with his crusade to rid the country of this very popular illegal numbers game called jueteng.

Cruz, national chairman of Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng (Jueteng-Free Philippines), recently told this writer that 2005 was the banner year for anti-jueteng campaign marked by unprecedented exposes about the illegal game’s influence in local and national governance during a Senate probe. Cruz prominently figured in the inquiry, bringing along with him witnesses like Sandra Cam, Wilfredo “Boy” Mayor, Richard Garcia, among others.

Known as the Juetengate II, a sequel of Juetengate I that toppled then President Joseph Estrada due to, among others, corruption charges including jueteng payola briberies, the 2005 jueteng scandal exposed by Cruz and his witnesses brought embarrassment to President Gloria Arroyo after her husband, First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo and son Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo and presidential brother-in-law Rep. Ignacio Arroyo were implicated as among the top beneficiaries of jueteng payola.

Credit goes to the indefatigable Cruz, whose crusade opened the eyes of the people and the officials that eventually led to the stoppage since late April 2005 of jueteng for the longest time in the province and in most parts of the country.

Cruz described 2005 as “the climactic conscientization of the people on the extent and evil that this illegal numbers game brings to the country.

He said his consolation was they were able to reveal that jueteng ties down the hands of the officials and its beneficiaries, silences the police, disables the national officials who are also their protectors and beneficiaries.

Though the fight is stressful, especially at the height of the Senate probe when Cruz , already in his 70s, oftentimes ate his meals past the normal time. He is unrelenting and vows to carry the fight more vigorously in 2006.

Having been at the forefront of the gigantic fight, Cruz became the subject of many death threats, bribery targets, calumny, hate mails and columns against him and his crusade even by some mediamen.

But he said the fight is worth it and “we save a lot of poor people from being exploited”.

Because of his media exposure due to the jueteng issue, Cruz laments he has lost his anonymity and he wants to regain it.

More lives than the proverbial cat

While jueteng had a lull late April when Cruz started making his exposes, it is slowly creeping back in some parts of the country.

“It is strange that the president has all the power to eradicate Jueteng. Yet this illegal numbers game has more lives that the proverbial cat,” Cruz said.

Cruz asked,” Why is it that people keep saying that Malacañang and Jueteng appear to be inseparable friends? Why is it repeatedly said that Pampanga is the Vatican of Jueteng and that province as well is the origin of the highest office holder in the land? Why do these talks keep coming back like a haunting song?”
Saying that jueteng is definitely not a small issue as it has caused the downfall of Estrada, Cruz said,” Lest people misunderstand, it is not the choice of the administration to stop or not something illegal. It is its duty to do away with any and all illegal activities in the country. Eradicating jueteng and other illegal numbers games is but the obligation of government and the rightful expectations of the governed.”

Anti-Gloria?

Cruz earlier said,” I am sorry: if the administration, its promoters and defenders see and claim that the advocacy against jueteng is politically motivated. It is clear that jueteng has its many and serious socio-political implications. This is what jueteng is. This is what jueteng does. But the crusade categorically has a moral cause.”
He said since its foundation in 2001, the Krusadang Bayan Laban sa Jueteng has been working to free the country from the gross immorality of jueteng. The crusade has absolutely neither any ideological finality nor any political interest. If only the national leadership would stop jueteng and other illegal numbers games today and permanently, the crusade would readily fold up today too and dissolve its advocacy permanently as well.

He added,” I am sorry: If those in positions of power, authority and influence consider and allege that the anti-jueteng crusaders are destabilizers, are anti-government. This is their problem. The crusade is simply anti-jueteng.

Cruz said,” I am sorry: if the national anti-jueteng crusade is perceived as anti-GMA. It is not. It is against illegal numbers games under any guise. It is pro-integrity, pro-decency, pro-honesty, pro-morality–whoever the president is.”

”For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not want to understand, no explanation is possible,” he said.

Cruz noted that in the very secret of jueteng’s survival lies the seeds of its demise, as there can absolutely be no jueteng in localities where the authorities do not permit the operator to conduct his activities. Jueteng can only be stopped if stopping it is willed, he said.

At the height of the Senate jueteng inquiry, Cruz, together with his three witnesses Cam, Mayor and Garcia, assisted by their counsel Frank Chavez, once made this call to President Arroyo to do her duty. ”It is high time for the national leadership to exercise political will in the battle against jueteng and all illegal numbers games. Although we hope that the current Senate investigation can provide better solutions, we still believe that the key to stamping out jueteng and all illegal numbers games lies in the area of enforcement, not merely in the passing of more legislation,” the appeal partly read.

Lies about jueteng

Cruz enumerated the following “lies” being peddled by the gambling’s supporters why jueteng could not be totally stopped and below each lie is the truth as Cruz sees it.

Lie one: Jueteng is here to remain. It has been in the country for centuries. It has long since been part Filipino life. It is a social reality the country has lived since time immemorial. Any attempt to stop it is but an exercise in futility.

False: Jueteng is readily vincible. If only those in public authority would want to get rid of jueteng, then this is gone for sure. There is no need of bullets and guns, of brute force and martial approach. The official and deliberate will to make jueteng disappear is enough.

The national crusade against jueteng awarded last year some 106 city and municipal mayors who cleansed their places of jueteng. Everyone of them said that there was no jueteng in their cities and municipalities simply because they did not want it. And jueteng was gone.

Lie two: Jueteng is gambling and gambling is already a part of the Filipino culture. In fact, it is said that gambling has already become ingrained in the Filipino psyche. Any effort to eradicate jueteng and other illegal numbers games in the country would go nowhere.

False: Jueteng is a vice. A vice does not become a virtue just because it has aged, it has become common and widespread. Any vice is ultimately the undoing of an individual, a family, a community.

Deceit and greed, infidelity and dishonesty, graft and corruption have long been with the Filipinos. Cheating in elections, in business, in industries are fixtures of Filipino life. But such long standing agenda do not make them legitimate and acceptable.

Lie three: Jueteng should be legalized. This would make jueteng subject to government control. This would bring money to the public coffers. This would protect the bettors, do away with jueteng lords, stop jueteng payolas.

False: Should Masiao, Tupada, Lotteng, Bookies, Last Two, Letreng and Many other illegal numbers game be also legalized? And since when has government been successful in controlling illegal activities? Since when has government spent well public monies? Since when has government stopped payolas, bribes and other shadowy public deals?

But as long as the many jueteng lords remain untouchable, as long as there are jueteng, masiao and other illegal numbers games, as long as the executive department continues to see and hear nothing, to say and do nothing to free the poor from the covetous tentacles of juetengeros, the crusade stays, Cruz said.