Lomibao admits PNP can't stop 'jueteng'
First posted 00:38am (Mla time) June 02, 2005
By Michael Lim Ubac, Philip C. Tubeza
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the June 2, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
THIS comes straight from the top man himself: The 117,000-strong Philippine National Police cannot stop "jueteng."
PNP Director General Arturo Lomibao made the admission at the House inquiry into the multibillion-peso illegal numbers racket that has again sparked a controversy involving top government officials.
"That is the reality on the ground," Lomibao told members of the House committee on public order and security.
Lomibao declared the country "jueteng-free" at 5 p.m. last Friday, but yesterday he said the PNP did not have enough personnel and resources to conduct daily raids on illegal gambling dens.
He expressed support for a proposal in Congress to revise Republic Act No. 9287 -- the law passed in 2004 imposing harsher penalties on those engaged in illegal gambling -- to address its flaws.
Admitting that the jueteng scandal was a "national embarrassment, especially for us in the government," committee chair Pangasinan Representative Amado Espino Jr. summoned Lomibao and other PNP officials to explain their failure to stamp out jueteng and look into the "pros and cons of legalizing a national malady."
Under questioning by Camarines Sur Representative Luis Villafuerte, Lomibao did not state a categorical position on proposals to legalize jueteng or other games of chance.
"But maybe I can venture into [stating an] opinion without fear of deviating from the institutional position of the PNP, which is that [jueteng] should not be legalized," Lomibao said.
He said his "personal view" was in support of a "well-researched study" by a retired police officer, Superintendent Wally Sumbrero.
Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's eldest child, who has been accused of receiving jueteng payola, attended the hearing to show that he was "not hiding."
But he arrived late, did not ask questions, and left before the hearing was adjourned.
He had earlier canceled a scheduled trip to the United States, saying he owed it to his family and his constituents to clear his name.
"I'm just here for two things -- to participate in this hearing in aid of legislation and ... to prove that I didn't go abroad. I still hope to answer the allegations against me," the neophyte lawmaker said in an interview.
"I attended this committee hearing to give the impression that I am not hiding," he said, adding that he wanted the courts and other "proper" bodies to resolve the accusations against the First Family.
"I guess we should get to the bottom of this because if we do not clear [things] officially through a competent court or agency, these insinuations, these baseless accusations, will persist as long as my mother is President," he said.
'Mayor knows a lot'
Testifying on Monday at the Senate inquiry into jueteng, witness Wilfredo Mayor said Congressman Arroyo received P600,000 monthly from operators of what is known as the poor man's lotto.
"I do not need to come face to face with Mr. Mayor to clear my reputation. It is important that the people know that I am not avoiding the committee hearing on jueteng," the lawmaker said yesterday.
But if given the chance, he would like to ask Mayor questions so that he "can be enlightened also," he said.
"You know, Mr. Mayor, concerning his know-how on jueteng, I think he's quite relevant; he knows a lot. If you talk about his knowledge in the industry of jueteng, he knows a lot and we might gain something," Arroyo said, adding:
"The only [problem] is, he has no evidence that the money reached the supposed people. He has no direct evidence to back the claims."
Arroyo said he did not pose questions to the resource persons during the hearing, including Lomibao and Isabela Governor Grace Padaca, because other lawmakers had already raised the points he wanted to make.
"You don't have to speak in order to participate, since so many [other] congressmen are more knowledgeable. As long as you listen intently, and take notes, that is participation enough," he said.
"And my head aches," he said. "My glasses must have the wrong grade. Anyway, I have listened to so many substantial inputs from our resource speakers through the questions of our veteran legislators. I feel that I have no more inputs to share. No one has advised me to keep quiet. If I am keeping quiet, I wouldn't talk to the media."
12 hours a day
Lomibao said that in a typical town, the average strength of the local police force was 40 officers.
"Of these, three would be commissioned officers -- inspector, captain -- and more likely assigned supervisory or administrative duties," he said.
"Of the 37 remaining, five would be ineffective as they would either be on vacation leave or simply absent. This would leave 32 policemen on duty. On any given day, the 32 are divided into two shifts -- meaning 12 hours per shift."
While policemen are supposed to render eight hours of duty a day as civil service employees, they are actually on a 12-hour tour of duty, he said.
Lomibao said that of the 16 on the shift, several would still not be performing normal duties -- the desk officer, duty investigator, administrative clerk, or jail officer, if there was a detainee.
"That leaves 12 as the actual number of policemen who can be deployed to conduct operations," he said.
Not the focus
And to launch a successful raid on any illegal gambling den, including making arrests, 12 policemen are "barely enough," he said.
In another startling revelation, Lomibao said jueteng was not really the central focus of the PNP's campaign against illegal gambling.
"It's just one of the campaigns [because we still have to go after] illegal drugs, illegal logging, illegal fishing," he said.
Villafuerte said the function of the committee was to determine what was "right" and "effective" in RA 9287 so that it could recommend adequate "reformatory legislation."
In a press conference earlier in the day, Lomibao declared that the PNP was validating "on a day-to-day basis" reports by field commanders that their areas were already "jueteng-free."
"So we thank those who report [that there is still jueteng] ... Rest assured that we are verifying it through the anti-illegal gambling task force," he said.
By sending the PNP text messages to 2920 rejecting or affirming the claims of field commanders, local residents have provided a good feedback system, Lomibao said.
Higher, not lower
Villafuerte asked Governor Padaca why national officials and not barangay chairs and local executives were being dragged into the jueteng scandal.
But Padaca said the proliferation of jueteng should not be blamed on local officials who had no control over the PNP or other provincial officials.
"We should not go lower, but higher," she said, adding:
"I have done my part to stop it. I did, but I failed."
She recounted to the committee how she had prodded the Isabela provincial police to stop jueteng, and how they would always tell her that 80 percent of the operational funds were coming from mayors.
"I can't get the cooperation of the mayors. The PNP tried, but can't go all-out," she said.
Padaca had earlier said that of the 35 towns and one city in her province, only four coastal towns could not be reached by jueteng operators because of sheer inaccessibility.
Lomibao agreed with Villafuerte's statement that to be immune from prosecution, "a witness must provide vital information adequate for prosecution."
The lawmaker, whose son, Camarines Sur Governor Luis Raymond Villafuerte, was earlier linked to jueteng, said the information should not be hearsay. With a report from Luige A. del Puerto
What can u say about Gen. Lomibao that RP is jueteng free
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