Miriam gets threats to her life after jueteng exposé
Days after exposing the personalities behind the “jueteng” operations in the country, Ilongga Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago revealed yesterday that she has been receiving death threats by telephone through her Quezon City office.
Confined at home because of hypothyroidism, the senator said she has instructed her staff that all calls for her should be routed to her Quezon City office, according to a report in the Senate website.
Santiago, in an interview with Bombo Radyo Iloilo, said her office staff has received calls from unidentified persons making implied death threats.
The calls were received by Sandy Schala, the senator’s executive assistant and by Matilde Fuentes, her administrative head.
Santiago said the callers left messages stating that she should “take it easy on the operators and the Philippine National Police” or insisting that “she should present witnesses or shut up,” or demanding that “she should resign or else.”
Her executive assistant said the messages have been relayed to the senator.
Santiago, a former immigration commissioner, has reportedly once said:
“I eat death threats for breakfast.”
This time, Santiago said: “Please post all death threats on my Facebook wall.”
In her privilege speech last Wednesday, Santiago said top officials of the Department of Interior and Local Government and PNP have allegedly been receiving at least P300 million a year in jueteng money.
“By allowing jueteng, the two men together will receive at least one percent of jueteng gross receipts every month, or one percent of annual receipts of some P30 billion,” she stated.
Those she accused of receiving payoffs are former DILG chief Ronaldo Puno, DILG Undersecretary Rico Puno, and former PNP chief Jesus Verzosa.
Among the alleged operators she mentioned are Charlie “Atong” Ang; Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda, husband of Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda; and Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson.
In Western Visayas, however, there is no jueteng operation, according to the Police Regional Office 6.
The Small Town Lottery or STL, a derivative of jueteng is allowed in Iloilo City and Negros Occidental instead, which is legal.
‘Legalize Jueteng’
In the radio interview yesterday, Santiago said Palace officials should not only investigate jueteng operators and local officials, but should study the proposal to legalize jueteng.
She had pointed to the example in the United States which passed a constitutional amendment upholding the Prohibition Act Against Liquor, but subsequently repealed the amendment to legalize liquor.
“There are occasions when government, seeking to prohibit absolutely, finds the law impossible to enforce. If we cannot prohibit, should we not regulate?” Santiago said.
She added: “Various Philippine presidents have come and gone, but illegal jueteng remains. No administration has yet succeeded in sending a gambling lord to jail. If so, should we not settle for regulating jueteng, instead of abolishing it on paper, without any realistic hope of success on the ground?”
Santiago said the Small Town Lottery, supposed to be an alternative to jueteng, is a failure.
“Only 10 to 15 percent of STL earnings go to the government. The rest of the earnings actually go to jueteng,” she said.
Santiago said that government can impose high fees on jueteng and earn huge taxes for the cash-strapped government instead of incurring more foreign debt.
She said the government’s mandate on jueteng is clear – to enforce the law on jueteng or to legalize it.*NLG
