Sun.Star: Jueteng remains rampant in Baguio, cops told to explain

With or without lotto, the illegal numbers game jueteng remains rampant in Baguio City, such that the city council has demanded an explanation from the local police. Sun Star Baguio reported Sunday that top police officials were summoned to the city council’s regular session on Monday to explain their failure to stop jueteng. Invited to the meeting were Cordillera police regional director Chief Supt. Raul Gonzales, city director Sr. Supt. Moises Guevarra and the local police intelligence chief. Councilor Rocky Thomas Balisong summoned the officials after observing the gambling activities during the department heads’ meeting the other Monday. “It is of public knowledge that jueteng, slot machines (colalong) and monte, which are forms of illegal gambling, are proliferating in the city," Balisong said in a resolution. He said the existence of “colalong" has been proven by the outcome of raids conducted by the personnel of the Anti-Vice Task Force. The raids yielded slot machines and bingo paraphernalia which were destroyed in public view. “Parents, especially mothers, often call the attention of some councilors asking for action against the proliferation of slot machines because most of their children of school age are addicted to these slot machines," the resolution said. As to jueteng, Balisong said the “existence of jueteng in the city cannot be denied" as bet collectors openly and freely conduct their activities all over the city. “The proliferation of these forms of gambling casts doubts on the efficiency of the Baguio City Police in curbing these illegal gambling activities," he added. Malacañang on Saturday admitted that jueteng may get a foothold on gambling should the government allow lotto ticket prices to go up. Presidential Management Staff head Cerge Remonde said Saturday on government radio that lotto has become “such a serious thing" for many, and increasing its ticket prices may have them patronizing jueteng. - GMANews.TV