Press Release
January 5, 2013

KOKO: ILLEGAL NUMBERS GAME STILL PREVALENT IN PAMPANGA

Senator Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, PDP Laban President, today clarified his statement in a recent visit to the province that there is no more 'jueteng' in Pampanga.

Pimentel, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Games and Amusement, said he was misquoted when he spoke about the fact that jueteng has recently evolved into something similar to the small town lottery (STL), which is legal.

"Let us be clear about what I said. I did not say that jueteng has been eradicated in the province. What I said was that I noticed that you can no longer recognize the illegal game because it has successfully coopted the legal small town lottery," the senator from Mindanao said.

"What I said was that the illegal numbers game has metamorphosed into a "parallel" STL," Pimentel explained.

Pimentel was in Pampanga recently to attend the Monday flag-raising rites in the provincial capitol with Vice Governor Joseller Guiao.

"All those who say that there is no more jueteng in Pampanga, including the police, are playing with definitions. Jueteng as we know it consists of 37 numbers and a P1 bet wins P900. The illegal numbers game prevalent now not only in Pampanga but in some other provinces where STL is present consists of 40 numbers where a one peso bet wins P700," the senator explained.

"Clearly this illegal numbers game is no longer the jueteng which we know. It is actually patterned after STL, which is one of the PCSO's legal games. Hence, there is no more jueteng, but clearly there is still illegal gambling going on. Worse, this illegal gambling takes cover under the legal blanket of the STL," he added.

Pimentel pointed out that while there is only one game, the STL, there are two "parallel" collections.

"One is what is remitted to the PCSO and hence is accounted for. The second is what is not remitted to the PCSO but is instead remitted to the financier of the illegal numbers game," Pimentel said.

Worse, he said, under this set-up called "bookies", the collector used by the illegal numbers game may be the same collector used for PCSO's STL, making it more difficult for the authorities to crack down against this illegal activity.

"It is for this reason that the PCSO must review the entire STL program as it can be used as a shield to protect illegal gambling," the senator said.

"The PCSO should explain how the illegal numbers game has taken over STL operations, and what should be done to stop jueteng once and for all," the senator said.

Pimentel said he had received reports from sources in Pangasinan that illegal gambling results are based on the outcome of jai-alai games, which is another legal gambling game.

The senator said that while "STL may have killed jueteng, it has allowed illegal bookies-STL to flourish. Hence the need for a comprehensive review of STL."

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