The latest exposé of retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz on jueteng should be another wake up call to President Aquino that something is wrong with the setup that he has created at the Department of Interior and Local Government where he stripped the secretary of supervision over of the Philippine National Police, a vital element in local governance.
Inquirer reported that Cruz said two of Aquino’s trusted officials are receiving a minimum of P2 million monthly payola from jueteng. He gave a clue: the two hold security-related positions which include eradication of the illegal numbers game. Another clue: “One of them began getting his share of the other, who came into the picture fairly recently.”
Update: In his appearance in ABS-CBN’s “Umaga Kay Ganda”, Puno categorically denied accepting jueteng money. “Hindi po.Walang nagbigay. Kung may magbibigay, hindi ko tatanggapin.”
Cruz, who was also a studio guest, declined to name the two officials of the Aquino administration resorting to “Secret” when pressed by host Anthony Taberna. He however said they are more than two actually but the officials are “not in a cabinet position.” One, he said, “malapit na.”
He also said there are also jueteng lords who are governors, unlike before when the governors were just jueteng beneficiaries. Although he declined to name the governor-jueteng lords, he said jueteng is rampant in Regions One (Ilocos), Two, (Cagayan Valley) and Four (Calabarzon and Mimaropa).
On Puno,Cruz said, he is impressed by the targets that he has set.
On putting the burden of proof on him, Cruz said, “Na sa inyo ang kapulisan, ang NBI. Be fair. Ibig sabihin kung wala kaming input, wala kayong magagawa?” (You have the police and NBI. Be fair. You mean if we don’t give you inputs, there’s nothing that you can do?)
Cruz practically cleared Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo saying the arrangement in the DILG where the latter is confined to “ a comprehensive plan on delivering social services to and relocating informal settlers in coordination with the local governments” while he retained direct supervision of the Philippine National Police.
