'Small Time Lottery'

"Forget the lottery. Bet on yourself instead."
-- Brian Koslow

By Alex P. VIdal

NEW YORK CITY -- If security guards will check all the cabs that enter the drive-in motels, pension and lodging houses for possible presence of minors in Iloilo City in the Philippines as mandated by a city ordinance, only few customers will have the guts to enter in these premises especially during the Valentine's Day.
Most customers checking in via taxis will never compromise their privacy for obvious reasons, thus they will resist any attempt from security guards to check them and their companions at the risk of being denied entry.
Drive-in motels, pension and lodging houses, however, are mandated by the ordinance to reject minors or be penalized.
Good for the campaign of the Iloilo City Task Force on Morals and Values Formation (TFMVF)  to protect our minors from sexual predators. 
Bad for motel and pension house business.
Let's hope that this campaign by the TFMVF won't be another case of ningas cogon.
Task force head George Duron specifically mentioned Valentine's Day as the specific day they would strictly monitor these establishments.
We hope that before and after the Valentine's Day, TFMVF will continue to implement the ordinance. 
Those who bring minors inside motels and lodging houses are not only sexual predators. Some are "normal" characters who happen to have partners not yet of legal age but are either sexually active or victims of blackmail, exploitation and deception. 
TFMVF will fill in the blank left by negligent parents. 

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Unless the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) increases the share of the local government units and the police under its Implementing Rules and Regulations, the Small Town Lottery (STL) will be dismissed as Small Time Lottery.
Under the new IRR, it was reported that the city or municipal government gets three percent of the revenue; congressional district, 0.25 percent; provincial government, 0.75 percent; and the Philippine National Police (PNP), 2.50 percent.
Because of the "small share", Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. has expressed worries that both the police and municipal mayors might not be able exert strong efforts to clamp down on "jueteng" to protect STL's interest in their areas.
Defensor's warning has a solid basis. Both STL and "jueteng" had similar mechanics when STL was first launched in 1987 under the Cory Aquino administration.

FRONT

Unknown to authorities, "jueteng" operators used STL as a front. 
To add insult, it was found out in a Congressional hearing following the end of STL operations in 1990 that franchises for STL had been awarded to the same people behind "jueteng."
It may be recalled that it was Defensor's cousin, the late Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who exposed in September 2012 that money from "jueteng" amounted to P30 billion annually. 
"Jueteng" operated openly in at least six cities in Metro Manila and in nearby provinces.
If STL will continue as "small time lottery", illegal gambling operators could "buy" the loyalty of corrupt law enforcers and municipal mayors.