2,000 displaced jueteng personnel from Bayambang
At least 2,000 jueteng kobrador, kabo and rebisador from Bayambang town may have been displaced when the illegal numbers game ceased operations two months ago as a result of the expose of Archbishop Oscar Cruz.
Mayor Leocadio de Vera said he learned of this figure when former jueteng personnel came to him by groups to ask for help because “they have been jobless and they have children to feed and send to school.”
“I really pity them, especially because it was enrolment time. Some of them even asked me if they can do our laundry, or cook for us,” De Vera said.
He said that the jueteng personnel from this town, who were scattered all over the Ilocos Region serving different jueteng operators, used to earn at least P300 a day.
“Now, they came home, but they have nothing for their livelihood,” De Vera said.
He also said this town’s economy suffered a slump because people do not have money.
“Nobody is buying goods now. Nobody is buying new shoes, new children’s clothes. That’s why even the small traders are affected. And if there is now economic activity, then no revenue goes to the municipal government,” De Vera said.
He explained that the reason there is a high number of jueteng personnel from this town was because the franchise holder of the small town lottery (STL) in the mid-1980’s came from this town. STL, an experimental numbers game during the time of President Corazon Aquino, was supposed to have replaced jueteng.
“But STL obviously did not prosper and the employees ended up being absorbed by jueteng operators because they already have the experience,” De Vera said.
De Vera said that with this situation, the government should now start collecting taxes from the Catholic Church to be used as special fund for displaced jueteng workers.
“I think this is what we should do now, and the Church should be supportive,” De Vera said.
He added that the Church should also sit in the fund management body to help identify livelihood projects for the displaced jueteng collectors.
“People are now hungry because they have no livelihood. I hope the Church will do its share in alleviating the situation,” De Vera said.
Mayor Leocadio de Vera said he learned of this figure when former jueteng personnel came to him by groups to ask for help because “they have been jobless and they have children to feed and send to school.”
“I really pity them, especially because it was enrolment time. Some of them even asked me if they can do our laundry, or cook for us,” De Vera said.
He said that the jueteng personnel from this town, who were scattered all over the Ilocos Region serving different jueteng operators, used to earn at least P300 a day.
“Now, they came home, but they have nothing for their livelihood,” De Vera said.
He also said this town’s economy suffered a slump because people do not have money.
“Nobody is buying goods now. Nobody is buying new shoes, new children’s clothes. That’s why even the small traders are affected. And if there is now economic activity, then no revenue goes to the municipal government,” De Vera said.
He explained that the reason there is a high number of jueteng personnel from this town was because the franchise holder of the small town lottery (STL) in the mid-1980’s came from this town. STL, an experimental numbers game during the time of President Corazon Aquino, was supposed to have replaced jueteng.
“But STL obviously did not prosper and the employees ended up being absorbed by jueteng operators because they already have the experience,” De Vera said.
De Vera said that with this situation, the government should now start collecting taxes from the Catholic Church to be used as special fund for displaced jueteng workers.
“I think this is what we should do now, and the Church should be supportive,” De Vera said.
He added that the Church should also sit in the fund management body to help identify livelihood projects for the displaced jueteng collectors.
“People are now hungry because they have no livelihood. I hope the Church will do its share in alleviating the situation,” De Vera said.
posted by Mayor's Action Center at 8:19 PM
1 Comments:
hi mayor, musta na po?...nice to see all the works that you did...i know it is hard being a public official, you always need to please everyone...i remember when i was in school my teacher told me that theres only two kinds of people, the one who wants all the power in the world and the second one are the people who wants to give and help others(that was related to gov. swharzenegger)What group are you? As long as you're happy and determined of what you are doing and take the risk, you can be successful. People don't stop from a certain point;we keep on dreaming and asking for more great things. I know thats what you are doing right now and some people, they want to improve more things.Especially you are a public official of bayambang, it is your job to help people and improve some facilities in the community.
good luck to you mayor and may god bless you...i wish you all the best for our community...take care...
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