SAYING that many past presidents have failed to stop the illegal numbers game, Rep. Rodel Batocabre on Sunday supported President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to hold a dialogue with jueteng lords in Malacañang.
In a Super Radyo interview over dzBB, Batocabe said “it is just right and proper to call the jueteng lords and invite them to join the small-town lottery.”
“May be what the President wants is to have a program [for them]. He forgot that there is already an approved STL being implemented by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office,” he said, adding “[but] his [only] intention is to wipe out jueteng.”
He said there were some jueteng operators hiding in the guise of an STL operation.
“Reality check, many do earn. They get [money]. The police, they have, too. That has been in our culture. Even some politicians get a share. What else can we do? Jueteng is chronic. The bad reality is, everybody gets a share. If you someone reacts [against jueteng], they also get paid. Isn’t it?” he asked.
There is already a web of corruption, he said.
Duterte earlier said the illegal drug trade may take over if jueteng” is stopped.
Batocabe lamented that 26 out of the 70 STL operators have owed the government some P12 billion.
He, however, said the revenues from the STL operations have increased under the Duterte administration despite the P12 billion debts.
He reiterated jueteng could not be stopped, and it just continues to evolve.
He said it would difficult to file charges against the jueteng lords for lack of evidence.
“It is easier to tell who, to point the person. Everybody knows who the financier is. But if you go to the court, it is not that easy,” he said.
