'Jueteng' rampant again, says bishop.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

DAGUPAN CITY-Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a leading crusader against the illegal numbers game "jueteng," yesterday said the game is rampant again in the country and candidates who won in the recently concluded elections were expected to either tolerate or protect it.

Cruz also challenged Director General Hermogenes Ebdane, Philippine National Police chief, to "demonstrate the mighty power of his word" and prove that jueteng can be stopped.

Cruz, national chair of the Krusadang Bayan Laban sa Jueteng, said when Ebdane had said "no more jueteng" late last year, the game was immediately gone practically all over the country.

"No bullet was needed. No gun was fired. No force was used. A word was enough. One was reminded of the creative power of the word of God," Cruz said in a statement.

However, Cruz lamented that before, during and after the last elections, "jueteng had resumed operations with a vengeance with bet collectors again busy and the capitalists once more very happy."

He said jueteng lords involved themselves in the elections to protect their operations.