AN OUTSPOKEN Catholic prelate has warned the Aquino administration against continuing with the Small Town Lottery (STL), saying it would only fortify the political influence of gambling lords.

Known antigambling crusader Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz insisted the state-run STL was being used by gambling lords as a front for the more popular but illegal ?jueteng? numbers game.

?If jueteng was not only a moral shame but a fearsome social cancer then, it is very much more so during these times since STL became its intimate buddy, making themselves an awesome and fearful pairing,? Cruz told the Inquirer in an interview.

?STL is used as a cover-up for jueteng. Furthermore, it is a categorical certainty that the pairing is under the command of exactly the same long-operating jueteng lords themselves. And as a deadly matter of course, STL uses the jueteng hierarchical structure itself, giving payola to the same protectors in the persons of infamous local public officials and police authorities,? he said.

STL and jueteng both work the same way?a bettor picks two numbers from a given range and wins if the numbers come up in a draw conducted by the operator.

But jueteng is illegal while STL is not. Jueteng proceeds in the millions go entirely to the operator who more often than not allots part of it to government officials and police who protect his operation. STL proceeds, meanwhile, are supposed to be split between the operator and the government.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo recently asked the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to review STL operations and check on reports that gambling lords use STL as a front for jueteng and remit only a small portion of their earnings to the PCSO.

But Cruz feels the Aquino administration is not seriously pursuing the eradication of jueteng since STL operations continue.

?The jueteng-STL tandem makes and unmakes local and regional politicians by using its practically inexhaustible gambling funds for political purposes. The same jueteng-STL tandem has slowly but surely become a formidable political force,? he said. Dona Pazzibugan