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Sunday, September 09, 2007
Baguio cops told: Stop jueteng in 10 days
By Rimaliza Opiña
BAGUIO CITY – Baguio City Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. challenged the members of the City Council and the media to name those behind the operation of jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling in the city.
Amid innuendoes that he tolerated the operation of illegal gambling, Bautista ordered the city police to stop any jueteng operations in the city within 10 days.
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He warned that the police's failure to stop the illegal numbers game would be brought to the national leadership of the Philippine National Police to possibly revamp the current composition of the city police.
The mayor also admitted in an open letter furnished to members of the media Saturday that he has been lax in monitoring policies that were supposed to curb jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling.
But he stressed this should not be interpreted that he tolerates its operation.
He challenged the City Council and the media to do their share in eradicating jueteng.
"I challenge the Vice Mayor, the City Council and the media to speak up if they have information about who are involved; who are coddling; who were approached; who are entertaining and even those whose minds were crossed by the slightest idea to dare to get involved in jueteng or any of its derivatives; or even any kind of illicit gambling activity that continues to besmirch our city's good morals, driving a nail directly to our public policy," Bautista stressed.
City Police Director Moises Guevarra, meanwhile, ordered all police station chiefs to arrest collectors and others involved in jueteng.
Station chiefs were also told that they would immediately be relieved if jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling would still be reported to exist despite the intensified effort to stop operation, Gueverra told Sun.Star in a telephone interview.
He also called on barangay officials to cooperate in putting a stop to illegal gambling and appealed to the community to report gambling activities, through their ‘I-text Mo si Hepe’ line.
"I ask the community to help monitor and report its sporadic activity and I appeal for them not to patronize it so that it will fold up like any other business with no customer. The onset of Christmas makes those operators restless but we will not stop running after them even if it drains our meager resources," Guevarra added in a text message.
The mayor's reaction came a few weeks after the City Council summoned the police regional and city offices to answer queries on the proliferation of jueteng.
Guevarra then admitted that jueteng exists but was quick to add that measures are done to eradicate it.
This, however, failed to convince the City Council as it decided to refer this to Police Director Oscar Calderon.
Part of the discussion was an allusion that Guevarra should be replaced because of the city police’s failure to stop jueteng as well as identify jueteng capitalista.
Bautista has since kept silent about the issue until his issuance of his public statement Saturday.
"Even as we declare that our administration is against all forms of gambling, exerting effort to curb the same, it would seem as if some people have placed meaning to our silence, indicating involvement in certain levels of our administration and even, by our local police enforcers," the mayor said, adding that eradication of the illegal numbers game should not be entrusted on him alone.
He said this should be a shared responsibility - of the executive and legislative departments, line agencies, the private sector and the community.
Bautista said government personnel involved in jueteng would be prosecuted and dismissed from further holding public office. He encouraged reporting of coddlers and assured that anonymous information would be acted on. "To those who have the temerity to run illicit games in our city, beware, the beginning of your end starts now."(Sun.Star Baguio)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (September 9, 2007 issue)
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