Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. thanked Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile for informing the Senate Blue Ribbon committee that he was able to stop jueteng operations in Pangasinan during his stint as Police Provincial Director.
However, Gov. Espino clarified to the committee during the resumption of the hearing on the issue of jueteng last October 6 in Pasay City that he was able to stop jueteng for only eight months since he had to attend to other police concerns like bank robberies, kidnappings, “akyat-bahay,” and other crimes.
He also thanked Senator Teofisto “TG” Guingona, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, Senator Gringo Honasan and Senator Vicente Sotto for giving him the chance to air his side and for understanding the enormity and complexity of the jueteng problem.
The Governor said he is one with all well-meaning leaders of this country for the complete eradication of this “national disease” but they should not be harsh and not too quick to accuse each other. Instead, he said, they should agree to work together and try to find concrete and effective solutions to address the problem.
“The presence of Gov. “Spines” (and Mayor Domogan) here in this hearing to face the allegation, to me, speaks a thousand words,” Sen. Vicente Sotto said.
In reply to Senator Sotto’s question whether jueteng still exists in the province, Gov, Espino said “guerilla” jueteng in Pangasinan totally stopped after his orders to halt its operations in the province. He also informed the body that mayors and chiefs of police in the province do not report to any gambling lord.
He likewise vouched for greater local government power as he noted that local chief executives do not have police powers. Instead, the police obey their orders because of a personal relationship. Their orders come from their national headquarters, he said.
“I hope he (Archbishop Cruz) can find time to sift thru the raw reports before passing on these rumors and wild speculations to this august body as if the same were gospel truth,” he said as he refuted the allegations of the archbishop that he is among the operators of the illegal numbers game.
Gov. Espino further said he has high regard for the Archbishop who means well in his crusade but he added that “he might be just being misled by overzealous informants who are unwittingly being carried away by wild rumors and malicious schemes.”
The governor said he is inclined to sympathize with the archbishop for his furor over jueteng, particularly in the Province of Pangasinan, noting that this could be Cruz’s personal frustration over his failure to see the total eradication of this problem in his own archdiocese even at the height of his crusade.
Gov. Espino also begged the senators to be “more circumspect and exercise caution in releasing sensitive but unverified information that may besmirch and destroy the reputation of innocent victims.”
Jueteng, Gov. Espino said, is a persistent and nagging social malady that is deeply rooted in our society that has been existent before everyone in this lifetime was born.
“I am not, I have never been, and I have no intention of becoming a jueteng operator. And I challenge everyone who accuses me as such to stand up here and show proof,” Gov. Espino emphasized.
The Governor informed the committee how he continually pondered to address in the most polite manner the accusations hurled against him in an open session in the Senate, seen in full view of the entire nation and in some parts of the world, made by a high-ranking leader of the Catholic Church.
This, he said, caused much grief and anxiety to his family, friends and his aging mother who has spent sleepless nights trying to digest the grave implications of the unfounded and baseless accusations against him.(PIO)
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