The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s Small Town Lottery (STL) is being used by its operators as a cover for jueteng, making it difficult to stop the illegal numbers game, a Philippine National Police (PNP) officer has admitted.
Testifying before the House committee on games and amusement on Monday, Chief Supt. Ford Tuazon, deputy director of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), acknowledged on questioning by committee members that some STL operators were also into illegal gambling.
“We have a hard time implementing it. We have so many raids on this illegal gambling (and) we have a hard time when it comes to STL because apparently jueteng is [being conducted] under the cover of STL,” Tuazon said.
The panel, chaired by Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing, was hearing House Bill 3399 filed by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez which calls for the abolition of STL.
Rodriguez said STL should be abolished since the PNP itself had admitted the legal game could not kill jueteng.
Nueva Ecija Rep. Rodolfo Antonino said jueteng continued to proliferate because the people themselves wanted it.
“Jueteng can never be stopped by the PNP or by any other authority because, in reality, the betting is something that is entertained by the mass base. In other words, they want it,” Antonino said.
He said the PCSO should instead improve the STL.
Antonino wondered why the PCSO had to come up with “Loterya ng Bayan,” which it is launching in October, when it could have easily plugged the loopholes in STL to make it more attractive to bettors.
PCSO Chair Margarita Juico said it was a management decision to launch the “Loterya” since the STL was not effective in combating jueteng.
“It’s pretty much like a product when it loses its appeal—you change the name, you change the complexion of the product,” Juico said.