Gov’t to revive campaign vs ‘jueteng’ in provinces

MANILA, Philippines—Concerned government agencies said they will intensify their campaign against the illegal numbers game jueteng, following the ruling of the Court of Appeals dismissing the contempt case filed against Justice Secretary Leila De Lima and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo by a gaming firm.

“I have asked the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] to coordinate with the PNP [Philippine National Police] to determine the extent of jueteng in various regions,” De Lima told reporters on Wednesday. “The campaign against illegal gambling will continue. The decision of the Court of Appeals is a welcome development.”

On Tuesday, the appeals court, through Associate Justice Juan Enriquez Jr., dismissed the petition filed by jai-alai operator Meridien Vista Gaming Corp. asking that the two officials be cited for contempt for defying its order enjoining them from conducting a crackdown on the company’s jai-alai betting operations.

However, the appeals court said the writ of preliminary injunction it issued enjoining the implementation of DoJ-DILG joint memorandum circular No. 0001-2011 dated June 27, 2011, did not cover jueteng operations.

Meridien said De Lima and Robredo violated the injunction when they caused the arrest and detention of their employees.

De Lima and Robredo said they were merely discharging their mandated duty when they apprehended Meridien’s employees who were caught committing illegal jueteng operations.

The appeals court in its ruling said, “In the present case, the assailed acts of respondents do not constitute disobedience to or defiance of the writ of preliminary injunction, a lawful writ issued by this Court, since their act of apprehending Meridien’s employees who were then involved in illegal jueteng operations and the consequent seizure of the jueteng paraphernalias are not the acts enjoined by said writ. Respondents thus did not commit any act amounting to indirect contempt.”