Archbishop Oscar Cruz was in his usual high-spirited self when we –Yolly, Eva, Ding and I -- chanced on him at his official residence in the city last Tuesday.
We were actually very lucky to see him there at that time because ever since the Senate investigation on jueteng began, he has been spending most of his time in Manila, being the major jueteng whistle blower and the custodian of vital witnesses.
The archbishop let out a loud laugh when we asked him about Jaime Aquino. “Don’t hate him. Just forgive him,” he told us. Then he laughed again.
When we asked him for updates on the on-going Senate hearings, he said he also wants it to stop now, but not because Malacanang wants it but because it is the natural course that the hearing has to take. Malacanang should not dictate on the Senate, he says.
The archbishop could not hide his apprehension for the safety of his witnesses. The safehouse, where one of them was kept, was shot at, leaving ugly and terrifying bullet holes in its ceiling. The other witnesses, he says, continue to get death threats and pressures from all sides just to silence them.
He had wished all the pressures and death threats be directed to him instead. After all, he smiles, “I’m already old.”
But what saddens him is that despite the hearings, consequently stopping jueteng operations in the entire Luzon, the betting has not stopped. The archbishop says new varieties of the numbers game have emerged, such as EZ2, loteng and letreng.
EZ2, which he says is being run now in many Pangasinan towns, is supposedly legal, being operated by the Philippine Gaming Corporation. Loteng, of course, operates very much like jueteng; and letreng, a new one, uses the letters of the alphabet.
“This won’t stop,” he says of the numbers game. And he is right because Filipinos are said to be the most creative people. Like what leading commentator Orly Navarro observed, Filipinos can even play Lucky 9 using the pages of a book!
The archbishop’s only consolation now, if at all, is that he was able to show to the whole nation the evils of gambling “no matter how legal it is.”
As he had said: “Gambling foments greed for the money of others. It promotes indolence, it cultivates dependence on luck. It seeks quick fortune that never comes. It despises toil and industry that bring productivity.
“It deceives the many poor and ignorant—making them more miserable and desperate. It intervenes in the electoral process of the country—undermining free and honest elections. It corrupts governance—staining local officials and public servants.
“Jueteng equals money. Money equals power. Power makes jueteng lords invisible and untouchable. Their big and influential beneficiaries have to see to it that they remain unconfronted, unchallenged, unchained. Otherwise, the moment even but one of them talks—how much jueteng payolas go to whom—not a few of those in high offices and with lofty titles fall flat on their faces.
“It is time to put period to the history of jueteng in the country. The people have enough crosses to bear. The authorities have their hands full of social ills to resolve. Get jueteng out of the way—now!”
Amen.
ENDNOTES: Last Saturday, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez was inducted president of the Rotary Club of Dagupan at the Dagupan City astrodome… On the same day, Mayor Benjie Lim left for the US to promote city tourism and to invite Dagupenos there to this year’s Pawil Dagupan. He will be accompanied by Councilor Nick Aquino... Finally, on July 13, the 4th Pangasinan Trade and Cultural Mission to Washington State leaves for Seattle. The delegation will be headed by Armi Bangsal-Lorica.
QUICK QUOTE: Man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for? -- Robert Browning
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