QUESTION: Sir John, are you in favor of legalizing Jueteng?
ANSWER: The issue have TWO proponents, (1) Illegal but jueteng operation continues and corrupt officials get payola, (2) Legal and jueteng draw is fairness-monitored, jueteng livelihood is protected by the state, and gambling profits pay taxes to the national treasury. I am on the side of #2.
Follow-up QUESTION: If it continues to be Illegal do you think it can be stopped?
ANSWER: Not in the next 6 years. The Aquino Administration has expectation rate of ZERO in terms of political will, aside from the fact that this Administration is lazy and tolerant of corruption. Maybe in the next Administration we will have hope.
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We should also consider that illegal gambling operation exists in many corners of the country BECAUSE it is one way the LGU and the Police raise personal funds off the books. Jueteng cannot be stopped. It is a cooperative fund-raising activity of the cops and the LGUs. Worse than Jueteng is RAFFLE, and it is also very ramphant. Moral issue? Duhhh! There is no Biblical passage that says gamblingis a sin. Even schools and churches have raffle bonanzas and bingo where people sit for long hours waiting for the number-result to come up. Gambling, from the point of view of operators, is just a fund-raising.
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Sa Pilipinas, bata pa lang ang mga student natin, binibentahan na ng RAFFLE, at pinag-oorganize na ng raffle operation ang mga students natin. Raffle is a form of gambling and we are teaching our kids at a very early age. How could we stop gambling?
