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Sunday, May 22, 2005
Bishop on jueteng exposé reveals bribe try
MANILA -- Jueteng lords and their allies have shifted to bribery in an apparent attempt to silence the most vocal Catholic Church official against jueteng.
"A good number of checks were given to me in various amounts apparently by different people and together with the checks are a brief computer statement usually saying the same thing--'that I should keep quiet about jueteng'," said Dagupan-Lingayen Archbishop Oscar Cruz.
Cruz said the most recent and the highest amount was a P10 million check sent to him last week together with an enclosed note telling him that "I should keep quiet about jueteng and (instead) concentrate more on other issues such as destabilization, terrorism and NPA (New People's Army), otherwise it might cost me my life."
Since he started his campaign against jueteng, Cruz said the checks were delivered through mail and courier companies but the senders turned out to be fictitious persons.
He said the lowest amount sent to him was a P10,000 check.
"It seems that these jueteng lords think that everybody has a price and for me, I don't need them so (these checks), they all go to the waste basket," Cruz added.
When he started his exposé on jueteng, Cruz said he received numerous death threats and Ilocos Representative Maria Imelda "Imee" Marcos had warned him that he and Isabela Governor Grace Padaca were in the liquidation list of hired killers.
Call
Reporters covering the church beat last Thursday received a call from a person who introduced himself as Ruben Pineda from Pampanga and asked if Cruz received the P10 million check that he sent.
Pineda was persistent in getting the contact number of Cruz, saying that he wanted to make sure that the archbishop was able to receive the check.
Prior to the call, Archbishop Cruz said someone called his office and asked one of his staffers if he received the P50 million check sent to him.
However, Cruz said he has not received any check amounting to P50 million.
Meanwhile, two senators have opposed the conduct of a Senate inquiry on operations of the illegal numbers game jueteng as they said it is not the function of the Upper Chamber.
Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and Miriam Defensor-Santiago said the hearing is just a waste of time because a similar investigation has been conducted before and nothing substantial came out of it.
The Senate games and amusement and public order committees chaired by Senators Manuel "Lito" Lapid and Manuel Villar, respectively, are set to conduct an investigation on alleged rampant jueteng operations in the country and payola allegedly received by government and police officials, as well as legislators.
Four witnesses, who claim to be jueteng bagmen and operators, are willing to testify before the Senate.
Enrile and Santiago urged witnesses to show proof to the Senate committees that will do the inquiry that certain government officials and members of the First Family benefited financially from the operations of jueteng.
"If they cannot show proof, then we should stop conducting any probe." (MSN/JPM)
(May 22, 2005 issue)
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