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Catholic Church Helps Philippine Government Anti-Gambling Campaign

"Meanwhile, Philippine National Police chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. was reportedly disappointed with the results of the police's anti-jueteng drive, according to a police official, and has ordered the PNP's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to step up the campaign.

"Hernando Coronel, executive director of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said Church officials will meet with other religious leaders across the country to discuss the possibility of waging a coordinated campaign.

"…Pastoral letters urging the faithful to help in the campaign against illegal gambling will soon be issued to all parishes, Coronel said.

"…Meanwhile, 78 people were arrested over the weekend in separate raids in the provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Rizal by CIDG police officers following Ebdane's order for an intensified drive against jueteng, a police official said.

"`The PNP chief wanted an immediate stop to all jueteng activities in the country at all cost," he said on condition of anonymity, adding that the illegal gambling drive may have forced jueteng rackets to adopt `guerrilla-type' operations.

"…Earlier, Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, president of the CBCP, said the Arroyo administration is not doing enough to curb jueteng despite its crackdown against illegal gambling.

"…Despite repeated government campaigns against jueteng by past administrations, the illegal numbers game continues to thrive because local and police officials reportedly take bribes to turn a blind eye…"

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