The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) denounced the PNP text vs. jueteng campaign as nothing but a band-aid solution to an endemic cancer. 

According to Danilo “Ka Daning” Ramos, secretary general of the group, “the PNP efforts against the illegal numbers game is really laughable and they do not really know the gist of the problem, that’s why they have such absurd solutions bordering on the comic. First off, if no big jueteng lords or their protectors are caught then how can you declare that a province or a region is jueteng free? Most of them have just gone underground and others left for abroad. Second, when the First Family itself is dragged into this controversy and there is a tacit knowledge among the populace of their involvement in it, what moral ascendancy can Malacanang back on to order an all-out war against jueteng?

Besides the police and military are also tainted with the payola from this game. Third, many people patronize jueteng not because they are pinning their hopes on it to get rich quick but more of a past time, and many people are employed by it because there are no other jobs available that the government should provide,”

“These are the reasons why the police will never solve it, it has political, economic, cultural as well as moral undertones that have to be addressed so it to be effectively licked. No amount of texting can solve that,” added the peasant leader.

Meanwhile Carl Anthony Ala, public information officer of KMP, said “Jueteng still persists in the regions previously announced as jueteng free by the PNP chief, in fact gambling lords have devised ways that are similar to what the police are suggesting to combat it. In the Ilocos region and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR), jueteng operations still continue but this time the betting is through text, while the collection is done through the local transport. In Central Luzon, jueteng still continues but has gone underground but it seems that gambling lords have devised an alternative to it called ‘loteng’, where the winning number is based on the winning lotto number aired on TV, this game is said to be sweeping Central Luzon today,”

“Unless the factors mentioned above are addressed and an honest to goodness probe is done by independent and trustworthy groups and individuals, then the problem of jueteng can never be solved,” ended Ala. # # #
 

KMP - 30 May 2005