WHAT WENT BEFORE

IN 2000, then President Joseph Estrada tried to stamp out the numbers racket, “jueteng,” through the Bingo 2-Ball game, but failed.

After 20 days of operation, Estrada himself stopped Bingo 2-Ball because of questions about its legality and mounting criticism of the new game.

In 2005, during the plunder trial of Estrada, who was ousted in 2001, then Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) chair Alice Reyes explained that jueteng and Bingo 2-Ball were almost the same except that Bingo 2-Ball draws were done in public and that there were no under-the-table payments as in jueteng.

Reyes, testifying at the Sandiganbayan, said it was Charlie “Atong” Ang, then known as a gambling crony and alleged bagman of Estrada, who broached the idea of putting up Bingo 2-Ball to Pagcor.

The idea was approved by the gaming agency on condition that it undergo a two-month trial to determine its feasibility.

Ang became a consultant to Pagcor for the Bingo 2-Ball game.

Reyes said at least 35 people, including Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda, an alleged jueteng operator in Central Luzon, met with her and applied for Bingo 2-Ball franchises.

Pagcor was shortchanged by about P880 million by the consultancy firm that Ang set up in the operation of the Bingo 2-Ball lottery, state prosecutors in Estrada’s plunder case said during the trial in 2005.

Citing Pagcor documents, Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio said Pagcor was supposed to earn P45 million a day from Bingo 2-Ball but instead earned only P24 million during the 20 days that the controversial lottery game went online.

“At P45 million a day, Pagcor should have at least earned P900 million during the 20-day period that the Bingo 2-Ball was in operation,” Villa-Ignacio said.

Ignacio said that despite claims that it was Pagcor that was operating the Bingo-2 Ball, it was actually Ang and his Prominent Marketing Corp. who were in charge. Inquirer Research

Sources: Inquirer Archives