Jueteng Issue

[RedHorse]

Mga ‘Igan, muli na namang naiipit sa kontrobersya itong si Justice Sec. Raul Gonzales kaugnay ng isinasagawang imbestigasyon ng gobyerno sa jueteng.

Kalimutan na natin ang pagpilit niyang gumamit ng ‘wangwang’ sa kabila ng ipinagbabawal siya ng batas na kinastigo na rin ng Inquirer columnist na si Conrado de Quiros.

Mag-focus tayo sa naganap na presscon niya noong araw ng Martes. Ayon sa ulat ng Abante, pagkakuha ng cellfone ni Gonzales sinabi umano nito na "Hello, Mikey. May tip ako sa `yo tungkol kay Montemayor. Pero mamaya na lamang. Maraming media sa harap ko."

Bago ibinaba, isinulat umano ni Gonzales ang numerong tatawagin para magkausap sila ng tinawag na "Mickey".

Walang nakakaalam kundi si Sec. Gonzales. Bagama’t kinumpirma niya na mayroon ngang tumawag sa gitna ng press conference, mariin niyang itinanggi na si Cong. Mikey Arroyo ang kanyang kausap.

"Hindi ba puwedeng mrs. ko ang tumawag?" balik niyang tanong. Ayon sa kalihim, resulta lang ng espekulasyon ng media ang insidente. Espekulasyon nga namang tumugma ang numerong lumitaw sa cellphone ni Sec. Gonzales sa numero ng cellphone ng anak na mambabatas ng Pangulo.

Isa pa, sinungaling ba ang mga kaharap niyang media ng mga oras na iyon?

Mahalagang maklaro ni Sec. Gonzales ang isyung ito sa dahilang siya ang nangunguna sa imbestigasyon ng Task Force Jueteng. Makukuha ba ng republika ang katarungan o pananakip lamang ang makakamit natin? Kahit pa ang nadadamay ay anak ng nag-appoint sa kanya sa puwesto.

Nakakatakot nga namang isipin na nagkakaroon ng direktang kumunikasyon ang tanggapan ng Kalihim ng DOJ sa mga personalidad na naakusahan, anak man ng presidente o hindi.

Hindi ba dapat ay magpakita ng kawalang kinikilingan si Sec. Gonzales, dahil iyon ang kinakatawan ng kanyang tanggapan. Kung nagbabala siyang puwedeng kasuhan at makulong ang mga "whistleblower" kung mapatunayang nagsisinungaling ang mga ito, hindi ba’t dapat ding kasuhan at ipakulong ang mga inakusahan kung lalabas sa imbestigasyon na matibay ang mga ebidensya?

Well, pinabulaanan na niya ito at iiwan ko ang pangyayari sa kanyang konsensya.

Lord, Kayo na po ang bahala.

[explorer]

naalala ko tuloy si chavit nun time ni erap...kung gaano sya siraan ng erap camp dahil jueteng operator din sya....ngayon yung whistleblower kung ano-ano sinasabi ni mikey....tapos kasama pa pala si mikey at jose pidal sa top 10 richest congressmen...dami rin taga negros ang nagtataaka kay jose pidal...halos bankrupt na daw yung hacienda nyan sa nageros bago naging presidente si gma...oh well, kung si manny villar nga ganon din...ngayon pinakamayaman na ulit si villar.

[enteng]

.. it's all show ..

totoo yon puro pakitang tao lang ang mga yan

[zeagle]

Hindi pa nakaupo si GMA, pinaplano na ng mag-ama kung paano sila kikita. Yung mga kurakot nilang pera, sa Hong Kong and deposit kaya madalas sa Hong Kong silang mag-ama.

[CLAVEL3699]

pera pera lang naman talaga laban ngayon eh

swerte mo kung nasa posisyon ka kaya kawawa yung mga taong bayan.

mayaman na naghihirap pa. hehehehehe

[CLAVEL3699]

baligtad ba or mali.

mahirap na nag hihirap pa.

parang mali ata dapat mayaman na nag hihirap pa kasi kahit mayaman ngayon umaaray sa mga kagaguhan nang nasa gobyerno

[qman]

haha agressive ang buwelta ni GMA.

Una handler daw ni Mayor si Lacson at ginamit lang daw niys si Archibishop
Pangalawa hinahanapan na si Archibishop ng kuwento na sya ay *** abuser.

tsk tsk tsk..

[marv0083]

nakakadepress basahin to..... think of wat is happening to our country na pajueteng jueteng lang napakaplastic ni GMA against siya sa jueteng... tapos ngayon legalize grabe naman yan.....

[Belisarius]

Our little illegal president is getting a dose of her own medicine, she is so makapal, she is such a good liar maybe she can do a movie as an actress. A denial she can make with a straight face, along with her husband and son who are all in this together, they are just better at covering up , that's her intelligence unlike erap who lack this essential ingredient in his physiology, she's smart to leave no traces but the truth will come out sooner or later. What is rotten will smell even if perfume is applied.

[RedHorse]

from the col of Lito Banayo, Malaya 07 June 2005


Available at the Lopez Museum in Pasig is a chronicle of the powerful Lopez family, which recounts the life and struggles of the founding patriarch, Benito Lopez, and his sons Fernando and Eugenio. Fernando became vice-president of the Philippines, while Eugenio, nicknamed Eñing, became one of the biggest industrialists and media moguls of the country. The book, authored by Raul Rodrigo, is titled "Phoenix: The Saga of the Lopez Family".

On Pages 105 to 106, the book recounts the early career of Eñing as publisher of a Panay newspaper, El Tiempo. We quote:

"Almost immediately, he embarked on a crusade. Using El Tiempo, Lopez would test his strength of will and principles…the Philippines has long been plagued by illegal gambling, particularly the numbers game known as jueteng, whose enormous profits are used to warp both law enforcement and the judicial process. In Iloilo in 1929, the king of jueteng was a Chinese named Luis Sane, widely known as Sualoy. He operated with impunity; his establishments were safe from raids — secured, it was said, by generous bribe money to politicians and the local police.

"In September 1929, Eñing and El Tiempo began a crusade against jueteng in Iloilo and the corruption it created in local government. The winning number each day was printed in a box in boldface on page one. Eñing came out with one expose after another, alleging that top politicians such as Iloilo Governor Mariano Arroyo, Iloilo City police chief Marcelo Buenaflor and his brother Congressman Tomas Buenaflor, had been bribed by Sualoy to turn a blind eye on jueteng.

"Eñing did not choose lightweight opponents. Mariano Arroyo was the most powerful man in the province. He was the brother of the late Jose Arroyo, a Nacionalista senator and good friend of Quezon. As the public’s outrage over the corruption began to mount, Arroyo issued a statement that jueteng did not exist in Iloilo. That it did and that local officials benefited from it were matters of public knowledge in the city. The question was not what needed to be done, but who had the courage to do it. As it turned out, Eñing Lopez did.

"In March 1930, due to the pressure created by El Tiempo, Sualoy’s headquarters was finally raided not by the do-nothing local police, but the Philippine Constabulary. Sualoy was arrested, found guilty and jailed. He was eventually deported and died in China.

"With Sualoy out, the conflict had narrowed to a match between El Tiempo and the governor. The crusade had captured the imagination of Iloilo and made El Tiempo the city’s leading newspaper. In August 1930, pushed against the wall, Governor Arroyo sued El Tiempo for libel. Eñing struck back by filing administrative charges against the governor. He also called in his friend and former boss Vicente Francisco to lead his defense against the libel charge.

"As the struggle intensified, some Lopezes sensed in it some unwelcome echoes of the political tempest that had taken the life of Eñing’s father 22 years before (Don Benito Lopez was murdered by a political enemy inside his own house in Iloilo). El Tiempo’s editor, Jose Magalona, was badly beaten by a local thug who was believed to be in the employ of the governor’s men. The older Lopezes were afraid that as the row grew more heated, Eñing might eventually share his father’s fate…

"Fortunately, news of the case had reached Manila and attracted the attention of (American) Governor General Dwight F. Davis. Governor Arroyo and his cohorts came under minute scrutiny. As a result of the scandal, the Nacionalistas and Quezon began backing away from Arroyo. When Arroyo asked Quezon to recommend to Davis that he be acquitted of the administrative charges filed by Lopez, Quezon refused. Instead, Davis swiftly dispatched Judge Manuel Moran (later chief justice of the Supreme Court), to investigate the libel case. Moran established that Arroyo and the police chief were in fact heavily involved in illegal gambling. They even ran a gambling den as a means of generating money for the upcoming 1931 elections.

"Moran concluded that Eñing and El Tiempo had not been guilty of libel.

"In Arroyo’s trial on the administrative charges, even more damning evidence against the governor came out. Pio Sian Melliza, a boyhood friend and active supporter of the governor, testified that when he had asked his friend to finally crack down on jueteng, the governor told him:

"‘Compadre, why are you so determined to get rid of jueteng gambling? Isn’t it clear to you that most of the jueteng runners and sellers are our own political ward leaders? The elections are nearing, and I am running for re-election. Not including the money they are giving us for election expenses, they can hurt us in this election, because there are many of these jueteng runners in this province.’"

On October 7, 1930, Governor General Dwight F. Davis ordered Governor Mariano Arroyo relieved of his post for corruption. Timoteo Consing, a friend of Eñing, was named as his replacement. Iloilo Mayor Eulogio Garganera and Marcelo Buenaflor were suspended. The ex-governor staged a protest rally and attempted to make a political comeback, but his disgrace had been marked and he sank into obscurity