“Let’s Legalize Jueteng”: Sen. Jinggoy Estrada

The latest in the Senate on the  jueteng craze is a bill seeking to legalize the game of numbers.

I cannot get the senator why he went straight to that point instead of finding ways no matter how stringent to stop the illegal game. In other words, Mr. Estrada is saying that there’s no way to stop the game and so it is better to make it legal.

The reality which the senator missed (or did he?) is the lack of political will and determination on the part of the government to implement the law; i.e. jueteng is illegal. Jinggoy should have filed a bill imposing heavier penalty to anyone convicted involved in the game depending on their interests in it. He should have also muscled up enough Senate strength to prosecute all whose names were mentioned by Archbishop Cruz and Sen. Miriam Santiago. I think that there’s nothing wrong if those in the list are investigated. After all, investigation does not suggest guilt. Only a court of law can tell who is guilty and who is not.

As we know, not one from the list has admitted any wrongdoing but that does not necessarily mean that they really have nothing to do with jueteng. Thus, a believable investigation must take place.

I am not saying that the president should send the military throughout the country and weed out jueteng. What we are looking for is an assurance from the government that it means business in stopping the game by using all legal means so that at the end of the day, the people will be surprised to know that some powerful, influential government, military and police personnel have been locked up in jail.

Is the government dead serious in stopping the game? I don’t believe so otherwise, investigations should have been initiated. To make everything simple, what’s wrong with what Archbishop Cruz said that it is easy to stop the game if local political and police officials really want to stop jueteng. If they don’t or are out of their senses that “they have no evidence that the illegal game is in their jurisdiction,” then nothing really happens.

Legalizing jueteng at this time is senseless. What makes sense is the government and the president to use political will and determination to really stop the game.

It is as simple as that. -30-