RESIDENTS of Angeles City, on Thursday said the government’s campaign against jueteng is destined to fail unless the National Police unmasks those behind the illegal numbers game.

They also criticized Angeles City Mayor Francis Nepomuceno, who, instead of supporting the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office’s Small Town Lottery (STL), is reportedly harassing its legitimate operation.

“After harassing bet collectors, policemen are playing deaf and blind on the operation of jueteng in our city,” a bet collector of Lake Tahoe Amusement Corp, the authorized STL operator in Angeles City said.

The source who requested anonymity also blamed Senior Supt. Sonny Cunanan, Angeles City police chief, for allegedly harassing bet STL bet collectors.

The police crackdown against STL bet collectors started on August 8 and more than 100 Lake Tahoe bet collectors have been arrested.

A case has been filed by bet collectors of Lake Tahoe against Cunanan and some of his policemen for alleged illegal arrest and detention, and grave abuse of authority before the People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB).

Another group of bet collectors is set to file this week a complaint to Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno and the Office of the Ombudsman against Nepomuceno.

They claimed that jueteng in Angeles City resumed operations under a certain Paris Tolentino, who is allegedly wooing the mayor to crack down on STL, its competitor.

They accused Cunanan of allegedly protecting Tolentino’s jueteng operation, saying that policemen are on a 24-hours watch in some areas where the jueteng draw is conducted.

 “It seems that they really want jueteng rather than STL. We used to be jueteng bet collectors but want to go legal.  STL is supposed to be legal because it is approved by the government but why are they harassing us and allowing jueteng lords to lord over in Angeles City,” the source said.

The source said Paris Tolentino, who allegedly managed to get the blessing of Chief Supt. Ismael Rafanan, Central Luzon police commander, started on Monday.

The source said Tolentino’s jueteng operation is an open secret in barangays Balibago, Villa, Lourdes, and Cutud, where his alleged station managers namely Amor Nuñag, Bestre de Leon and Jorge Nuñag are operating.

“BE careful what you pray for, you just may get it.”

After three typhoons hit the country in a little more than a week, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, Manila archbishop,  lifted the Oratio Imperata Ad Petendam Pluviam, or the prayer for rain he issued last month.

IN addition to a ranking leader of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), one of the top operatives of the Asian terror group Jema’ah Islamiyah (JI) was reported to have been wounded in the ongoing operations against lawless elements in Basilan and Sulu, the military said on Thursday.

RESIDENTS of Angeles City, on Thursday said the government’s campaign against jueteng is destined to fail unless the National Police unmasks those behind the illegal numbers game.

THREE Philippine high-school students participating in the gruelling 2007 China Mathematical Olympiad for Girls bagged three bronze medals, a feat made more remarkable by two things: first, they were the youngest participants; and second, the competition has been expanded this year with the addition of teams from the United States, Russia and Canada.

PRIVATE-school administrators on Thursday denounced the appointment of former economic planning secretary Romulo Neri as chairman of the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) because of his earlier announcement that he will stop tuition increases.