Philippine Government Attempts to Control Gambling

Philippine Government Attempts to Control Gambling

Philippine Government Attempts to Control Gambling
Yesterday, officials of the Philippine government announced the revival of what is being called the “small town lottery.” The small town lottery will be under the auspices of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

The lottery is seen as a replacement for jueteng, a gambling game that is illegal but extraordinarily popular among the country’s lower classes. The government has been trying to eliminate the illegal gambling game for years, with little to moderate success.

Officials hope that the small town lottery, which will be run by the government, will be successful in replacing the gambling now popular among residents of the country. It is, however, worthy of note that the Philippine government has attempted to replace jueteng with the small town lottery in the hearts and minds of the average Philippine, with little success. The last attempt to introduce the small town lottery was during the administration of former President Corazon Aquino. The attempt was unsuccessful at effacing the popularity of jueteng, and the small town lottery was revoked.

Since that time, all incidences of the government’s attempt to regulate gambling simply involved prosecuting those who were involved in jueteng, without providing an alternative gambling method. The now disbanded National Anti-Jueteng Task Force had varying success in changing the gambling habits of the Philippine people.

The former head of the National Anti-Jueteng Task Force, Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn, proposed that the small town lottery be revolved in his exit report last September, and will be involved in the drafting of legislation that will control the small town lottery, and will serve as the project’s spokesman. Already, Mayor Hagedorn has suggested that a team be formed to monitor the new government- sponsored gambling.

The small town lottery is already in effect in the Quezon province, Quezon City and Angeles City in Pampanga. Although there is some resistance to any government sponsored- gambling by the powerful Roman Catholic Church in this heavily Catholic country, Hagedon said the gambling is an innately human behavior. The most the government can do, he said, is to make sure that gambling is regulated, fair, and bettor- friendly. The small town lottery, he said, will offer people a more transparent gambling venue than jueteng operators do.

The small town lottery is directly run by local cities, towns, and counties, which contract with the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Mayor Hagedorn offered the following words in explanation of the relative merits of government- sponsored gambling: "There is an ocean of difference between STL and jueteng. The proceeds of the former go to the government while those of the latter go to the pockets of jueteng lords, thereby enriching them and putting them in a position to bribe those in government.”

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