Illegal gambling has once again become rampant in this poverty-stricken city. The Manila Jueteng Problem is still alive and evident in the arrests of several people involved in the said illegal form of gambling. Manila mayor Alfredo Lim along MPD director Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay promised that they will rid the city of illegal jueteng operators. Instead, there are intelligence reports that illegal jueteng operators are slowly resuming their activities in the city.
The recent arrests of several people are clear indications that the once eradicated Manila Jueteng Problem is still flourishing. Part of the reason why this illegal gambling problem has resurfaced is that police officers and city officials are involved in this trade. This illegal numbers game is widely known to enjoy the blessing of dishonest policemen and city hall officials. In return for the protection extended, these jueteng protectors are bribed with a portion of the profits generated from this illegal activity.
The inability of the police force to bring these people involved in Jueteng has further aggravated the Manila Jueteng Problem. Many people who are actively participating in this illegal activity were able to avoid arrests due to the influence of higher police officials and city hall personnel including the Mayor of Manila.Moreover, jueteng operators in the city have discovered a way to elude arresting police officials. Investigations showed jueteng lords in the city operate in a 'kangaroo' style or transfer from one place to another to escape detection.
Jueteng operators in the city have also found a sense of resiliency in how to cover up their illegal operations.To elude and mislead the city's law enforcers, these jueteng collectors are pretending that they are soliciting bets for the government-sponsored EZ-2 lotto.Jueteng is almost similar to EZ-2 which is a legal numbers game launched by the government through the PCSO. Jueteng and EZ-2 both involved a winning two-number combination where bettors place their bets.
The only difference between the two is that jueteng is drawn secretly and exists as an underground transaction.It is believed that the winning combination in jueteng is handpicked by the operator. Jueteng operators select combinations with fewer bets to accumulate more profits. Meanwhile, EZ-2 is legal and drawn live on TV.
Unless the city government under Mayor Alfredo Lim and Manila Police Department end their involvement in this kind of illegal activity; the Manila Jueteng Problem will remain unaddressed. If Mayor Lim and Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay are keen in eliminating this kind of illegal activity in the city, their action must begin within their ranks. They should be running after the protectors and big time jueteng lords instead of arresting small bet collectors. Moreover, the city government must carefully look into the bigger picture and address the real cause why this illegal numbers game even exists.
The inability of the police force and Mayor of Manila Alfredo Lim to bring those people involved in Jueteng has further aggravated the problem. The reported involvement of police and city halls officials in the illegal activity has made it impossible to address this problem. Moreover, there are other reasons why the Manila jueteng problem has once again resurfaced as apparent in the arrests of several people involved in the said illegal form of gambling.
-Julius Arante
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