LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—In its first round of random operations on the reported resurgence of jueteng in this province the other day, joint elements of Task Force Anti-Illegal Gambling rounded up 11 alleged jueteng bet collectors in two towns and one city.

However, the operatives from the national level of the Criminal
Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) which was given the mandate to go after illegal gambling operations, together with those from the region, provincial and the local police, were surprised because those “invited” for questioning, a term preferred to be used by the police rather than the word
arrested, were found to be EZ2 collectors.

The lawmen consequently released the “suspected” jueteng bet
collectors from San Jacinto, Urbiztondo and Urdaneta City Tuesday night after further interrogation for lack of evidence. The raiding team said those invited for questioning were very willing to present themselves.

The operatives also conducted operation in San Fabian town, hometown of Chief Supt. Alfredo de Vera, police Ilocos regional director, but they claimed their operation yielded negative result.

Prior to the “suspects’” release, Police Senior Supt. Alex Gutierrez
from the national CIDG who was assigned as field supervisor for the said operation in Pangasinan, told local newsmen during a press conference that they could not say that those “invited” are indeed jueteng collectors because they also have EZ2 paraphernalia and identification cards from the Philippine
Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

Bets placed in the papelitos (where bets are written) bore P10, the minimum bet for EZ2 sanctioned by PCSO.

They might have been commissioned to collect bets at the same time for jueteng, but this is yet to be verified further, Gutierrez added.

He said the collectors have become wiser because the operatives
failed to get evidence that would really pin them down as jueteng collectors despite persistent reports they received that they are the same persons involved in this popular illegal numbers’ game bet collection.

“Kung makalusot sila ngayon, siguro sa susunod hindi na kasi
babantayan na natin nang husto (If they will be freed now, maybe next time, not anymore because we will guard them tightly),” Gutierrez said.

His team is in Pangasinan starting Monday and will continue to
conduct operations for as long as there are reports about jueteng operations in the province.

For his part, Supt. Federico Castro Jr, CIDG regional officer in
region 1, said their operation was based on persistent reports received by the secretariat in Camp Crame about the revival of jueteng in Pangasinan.

He said their findings will be sent to the main headquarters for
verification.

He said it is saddening that sometimes politics come into picture in this anti-illegal gambling operations because there are some persons who only wanted to discredit their opponents and report jueteng resurgence even if there are at times no truth to it.

“Parang nagiging paninira lang sa kapwa (It looks like it becomes
only to destroy someone),” he said.

“Sana naman huwag lang yong haka haka at bigyan kami ng more concrete information (We hope it will not just be hearsay and they should give us more concrete information),” Castro added.

But despite the fact that their first operation had negative result,
Castro said they will not yet declare Pangasinan as jueteng-free.

He said they will continue to operate for as long as there are
reports relayed to the secretariat through phone call, text messages or letters.

“Di kami titigil hanggat me report kaming natatanggap (We will not stop for as long as we continue to receive reports),” he added.

He assured that the Philippine National Police (PNP) will do its part in eradicating jueteng.

Meanwhile, informed about the police operation against jueteng in
Pangasinan, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, chairman of Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng (Jueteng-Free Philippines Crusade), told this writerthat “EZ2 is cover up for either bookies or jueteng. I hope the Anti-Jueteng Task Force will be wise. Otherwise the bookies and jueteng operators would pull the rug under their feet”.

He added,” I am impressed for the concern and the effort (of the
police) but more than the concern and the effort, we want results”. Castro admitted that they feel more pressure in Pangasinan because Cruz is based here and it is also the homeprovince of PNP Chief Arturo Lomibao who
hails from Mangaldan town.

He said there are lots of intrigues here but he said they are more than willing to support Cruz in his crusade. He added that some of the reports they receive come from Cruz’ group.