Much ado over jueteng

WHY the fuss over jueteng? Retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz is raising hell against jueteng operators and their cohorts in government since it is his moral and spiritual duty as an eminent leader of the Church and as the founder of the erstwhile anti-gambling movement, Krusada ng Bayan Laban sa Sugal.
        On the other hand, most politicians remain high on the illegal numbers game as a matter of political survival. They pretty-well know that given the proclivity of the great mass of electorate for election goodies, victory usually goes to poll bets who are flush with cash.
        That/s why Monsignor Cruz said jueteng has gotten even worse than before because politicians and jueteng lords want to recoup their expenses during the May elections as fast as they could. And the jueteng brouhaha is rearing its ugly head once more.
        In fact, Bogoy, my sidekick, has cracked up a joke over the issue on illegal numbers game. One day, he narrated, a priest while saying Mass noticed that during the offertory an elderly politician forked out a relatively sizable amount from his wallet. He dit it in style so those around him and even the priest would notice. Unable to hold back his curiosity, the priest approached the generous donor to express his gratitude when the Mass ended.
        "  Naku, walang anuman 'yon Father," he smilingly replied, "medyo malaki kasi ang kinita ko sa jueteng sa buwang ito."
        Meanwhile, many parishioners, Bogoy said, have gotten the habit of dividing nickels and dimes so they could place jueteng bets and at the same time donate to the church. Medyo nabawasan ang tithe, sabi ni Bogoy. I asked hims, kaninong tithe?
        What to do with jueteng? Frankly, I'm at a loss on that one. Some people are batting for small town lottery or STL to eradicate jueteng once and for all. However, STL is gambling per se and could be used by jueteng lords as a front to propagate the illegal numbers game as what happened during the time of President Estrada.
         Government by itself should not engage in more gambling activities like the STL business. However, STL is under the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Should private operators be allowed to run STL, they will engage in the business with one hand tied behind their back vis-a-vis the jueteng operators since the former will have to pay taxes and other incremental expenses like minimum wage and SSS premiums of their employees.
        One major question is: Will the politicians get as much paychecks from the STL operation as they are getting from the illegal numbers game? I doubt it very much. Thus, it is likely that they will surreptitiously allow jueteng lords to operate within their turfs. Another major question is: Will winnings from STL be equal if not bigger than those from jueteng? Don't ask me, but I'll say it anyway. Jueteng will still win in the end.   
        How to deal with jueteng? Well, Bogoy has this solution.
        Why not interchange the roles of those who are pro and anti-jueteng and see who performs better in his new role? Monsignor Cruz as jueteng operator and Bong P or the others playing the role of obstinate anti-jueteng cursaders? Masaya!