In Pampanga, Erap keeps up pitch to make ‘jueteng’ legal

Right in Pampanga, which was once described by Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. as the “Vatican of jueteng,” former President Joseph Estrada on Wednesday reached out to students to explain why he supported the legalization of jueteng as early as his term as senator.




In a forum at the Holy Angel University here, Estrada, the standard-bearer of the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino, told about 1,500 students that jueteng generates jobs for the poor so he supported its legalization.



Estrada was convicted of plunder but pardoned very early by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.



Bribes



Among the charges hurled against him was accepting bribe from jueteng lords.



In January 2001, Estrada was ousted by a citizen revolt that installed then Vice President Arroyo to the presidency.



Estrada said one of his first privilege speeches during his term as senator supported moves to legalize jueteng because he came face to face with the numbers game as mayor of San Juan in Metro Manila.



Estrada said jueteng workers asked for jobs, even as garbage collectors, but there was none available.



“That’s the social problem, a hungry stomach knows no law,” he said. “Stop jueteng, where will they turn to? They will steal and engage in kidnapping.”



Erap numbers

Citing a study that he said was conducted by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Estrada said there were 163,000 jueteng bet collectors (kubrador) and managers (cabo) in the five regions of Luzon in 2004.



To get an accurate picture of the extent of how the illegal numbers game provide livelihood to poor people, he said this number should be multiplied by four to represent the jueteng employees’ family members.