PCSO admits STL probably used as front for jueteng

The head of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) admitted to the Senate on Thursday that the small town lottery (STL), established as legal alternative to jueteng and intended to ultimately eradicate it, is probably being used as a front for the illegal numbers game. "We have reports that these present operators (of STLs)... some of them are fronts of jueteng operators," PCSO chairman Jose Ferdinand Rojas told the Senate blue ribbon committee on Thursday. The PCSO chief issued the statement after Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile grilled him on the possibility that the STL is being used as a front for the illegal numbers game.
"It's well known all over the place that the jueteng operators were the ones that got most of the licenses to operate STL in their localities as a front to cover them and legalize their operations," Enrile said. "You got the wrong applicants, some of them are jueteng operators. You know it, if you don't know it, you're fooling us," he added. Rojas, for his part, admitted that there was no "strict censorship" of those applying to be STL operators. During the course of the hearing, it was likewise revealed that some of the owners of the corporations operating STL were identified in the list provided by some whistleblowers to Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who delivered a privilege speech on jueteng. Rojas likewise admitted that it is a requirement for STL to operate in areas where there are jueteng operations. Among the areas where there is STL are: Isabela, Angeles City, Bataan, Bulacan, Tarlac, Olongapo City, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Cavite, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Southern Leyte, Leyte, Agusan del Norte, and Agusan del Sur. Rojas noted, however, that they already have a list of operators whose licenses they might cancel for their measly performance over the years. Senator Teofisto Guingona III, who heads the Senate blue ribbon committee, asked the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to correlate the lists. "I don't think PCSO has the capability to investigate... the DILG and PNP have to make their investigation," he said during the hearing. Crippled DILG? Aside from the PCSO, the senators likewise grilled several government agencies over their failure to stamp out the illegal numbers game. Guingona first questioned Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo for his supposed inability to do anything about the jueteng problem. "How do you expect to stamp (out) jueteng when it seems that your authority over your department is crippled? How can you conduct anti-jueteng operations given your unique circumstances?" he said. Robredo was only appointed in an acting capacity by President Benigno Aquino III. He is likewise perceived as sharing power over the DILG, with Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno supposedly in charge of police matters while Robredo takes care of local government matters. "My sense is that this is a transitory arrangement. In time this will be settled," said Robredo. Puno was earlier identified by Senator Santiago as a recipient of jueteng payola. Robredo, however, defended his undersecretary. "There's no evidence, no hard facts to prove these allegations," he said. Robredo likewise said that he has been putting together a report on the recommendations on how to eradicate jueteng. Among his suggestions is to provide a "better alternative" for jueteng through an improved "bettor-driven" STL. He also suggested that conditional cash transfer be granted to those who are dependent on jueteng for income. PNP, BIR, AMLC Aside from the DILG, the Senate blue ribbon committee asked the PNP, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) what their efforts are in stamping out the illegal numbers game. PNP chief Raul Bacalzo said that they are working on their one-strike policy and that the instances of illegal gambling have already gone down because of it. On the other hand, Guingona asked what the BIR and AMLC are doing in tracing the large sums of money being circulated from the jueteng operations. BIR Deputy Commissioner Stella Sales said that since jueteng is illegal, the operators do not follow standard accounting practices, making it harder for them to trace jueteng revenues. AMLC officer-in-charge Richard Funk likewise said that they find it difficult to relate the jueteng activities to the money being circulated. Sales, however, said that they are trying to use the network expenditure method to track the money flow.—JV, GMANews.TV