DAGUPAN CITY– One Oscar, a man in uniform, promised to stop jueteng in Luzon
by the end of this month.Another Oscar, a man of cloth, doubts it could be
done without the blessings of the "big boss".

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz gave cheers to the recent
pronouncement of Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Calderon
in his resolve to stop jueteng this month. But, he said that "the good
Director better be convinced that unless he has the approval and blessing of
the national leadership, he cannot “totally stop” jueteng in the country".

The Senate Inquiry on Jueteng amply demonstrated this preferred status of
jueteng in the country, he said.

Cruz, chairman of Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Jueteng (Crusade Against
Jueteng), said that there are certain signal truths that Calderon is
respectfully invited to look into to verify this reality-or otherwise.

The good director should know by now that jueteng has long been the big curse
of the poor bettors and the big blessing of its influential operators, the
senior prelate said. He should also by now aware that most of those corporate
entities running the STL (small town lottery) are the jueteng capitalists
themselves using the jueteng structure to collect STL bets, he added.

Cruz said the good Director should likewise be now cognizant of the fact that
STL is conveniently used by its collectors as a cover-up precisely to gather
jeuteng bets as well. Furthermore, without deliberate manipulation, STL will
not bring money to its financiers, on account of which jueteng cannot but be
played with it, he added.

He said the good Director should be convinced that just as STL is approved by
a Province, City or Municipality by introductory payolas to certain local
authorities, jueteng on the other hand also thrives only on account of
payolas to those specifically enjoined to stop it, he said. He added that
Calderon should realize that just as drug money runs the elections in certain
American countries, jueteng money runs much of the elections in this country.

Cruz said the good Director should remember a key reality in the stop-and-go
signals of jueteng before a scheduled election. For the 2004 National
Elections, jueteng was totally stopped for two months or so, the priest said.

"Immediately thereafter, jueteng came back with a vengeance, the reason for
the stoppage was simply for those concerned to arrange and agree upon how
much payolas go to whom and when-in anticipation of the projected election
campaign expenses," he said.

He added," The good Director better be convinced that unless he has the
approval and blessing of the national leadership, he cannot “totally stop”
jueteng in the country".

Cruz, whose fight against jueteng has reached the halls of Senate, said the
Senate Inquiry on Jueteng amply demonstrated this preferred status of jueteng
in the country.

"The Krusadang Bayan Laban sa Jueteng can only send its well wishes to the
good director for his success in freeing the country of the greed and avarice
of jueteng syndicates-permanently!," Cruz said.