Jueteng free essay sample

The Legalization of Jueteng in the Philippines Jueteng originated from China. It came from two words â€Å"jue† that means â€Å"flower† and â€Å"teng† which means â€Å"bet†. It is Illegal but is still being played by both poor and rich and it is a widely popular game. The Present Administration of the Philippines and the Church is against its legalization while other politicians and the people involved with the game continue to persuade them to legalize it. Jueteng is an illegal game played in most provinces in the Philippines. It is a number game and its aim is for the player to guess the winning combination. A player should choose a combination of two numbers whose range is from numbers 1 to 37 but, in some outlets there are 38 numbers. In the 37 numbers, there are 1,369 combinations possible and in the 38 numbers, there are 1,444 combinations. A player may bet from 25 centavos up to 100 pesos. The winning payoff has a ratio of 1:800; every peso that you have bet will be multiplied to 800 when you win the game. During the impeachment proceedings of Joseph Estrada, he was found guilty of plunder after receiving millions in illegal payoffs. There was also a scandal back in 2005 that says that the relatives of the former president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, are operators of the said game as well. It is because of these Scandals that made the other politicians think that it might be better if Jueteng would be legalized. Senator Jinggoy Estrada filed Senate Bill Number 2548 or the proposed â€Å"Jueteng Act of 2010† and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile wanted the same thing as well. Enrile said, â€Å"I’m in favor of legalizing and if possible we’ll pass this and let the other sign or make a disposition of it. We will take a position we are ready to defend our position. I’m sure the others will oppose it with their own position. We can debate it. † â€Å"I am in favor of legalizing it because; first it will erase all sources of corruption – corruption of the police, corruption of local officials, and corruption of the society. And you cannot tax the income of these Jueteng operators because they are precisely illegal, underground,† he added. Enrile and Estrada do not only want to legalize it and just let the violators be free; they would also like to punish them. As a matter of fact, it is stated under the bill that the illegal Jueteng operators would be facing a P2-million fine and Reclusion Perpetua. â€Å"Through its legalization, the government can finally collect the revenues sourced from this numbers game, make use of the proceeds to finance important government programs, deny syndicates the opportunity to benefit from it and stamp out corruption,† Estrada said. The proposal was rejected by President Noynoy Aquino and he is firm on his decision. The Presidential Spokesperson, Lacierda, said, â€Å"Definitely he frowns on Jueteng, he frowns on illegal gambling. As what he intends to do with PAGCOR, that is a separate matter. † He even added, â€Å"Whatever is now legal, that’s it. But Jueteng which is illegal, he will not agree to that. † After a year, Vice President Jejomar Binay suggested to review the proposal. â€Å"Probably it’s high time to review the position of the government in the light of what has transpired,† he said. Binay also claims that many other people agree to its legalization as well. â€Å"There were proposals (jueteng legalization) in the past. Now, based on people I talk to, it seems that they are amenable to it,† he added. The church does not want to legalize Jueteng for they believe that if they do legalize it, they are just tolerating what they believed to be â€Å"wrong-doing† of the Filipinos. They think that it would only make the poor people even poorer for they will tend to bet on it instead of finding a decent job. It will only get their hopes up and they will just depend on it. They also think that the ones getting the most benefits from it are not the players of the game but the operators. They are being highly paid and since Jueteng is illegal, they are not paying their taxes as well. Even if the players win, they think that they only get what they lost from their previous games. Jueteng is a waste of money; the players’ money only goes to the pocket of few. The anti-Jueteng people also think that if Jueteng would be legalized and there will be a new gambling game, people are just going to demand them to legalize it as well and it will just continuously happen over and over again. It wouldn’t be long and gambling will be one of the sources of people’s money and not their decent jobs anymore. Many people, from players to politicians, want Jueteng to be legalized. There are other gambling games that are already legal in our country and Jueteng is not so different from them. There shouldn’t be any reason for Jueteng not to be legalized. The betting itself is not illegal; there are other betting games that are legal in the country. What makes it illegal is the fact that it doesn’t have a permit from the government and it is not being taxed. It is the only difference of Jueteng from other gambling games that are legal. If it will be permitted and taxed, it is not so bad at all. Jueteng already existed since the Spanish Time, if there was a way to stop it, it could have been stopped already. But, the fact that it’s still on-going, it only means that people will always find a way to continue playing it. It is true that a decent job is a better way to earn money and that gambling shouldn’t be tolerated amongst Filipinos but, it is already part of the way of living of the Filipinos. Since government have tried and failed to stop it, why not just legalize it? At least, the government will earn money from it if they paid the taxes. I am not saying that a wrong-doing that cannot be stopped should just be considered right instead of trying to correct it. All I’m saying is that Jueteng isn’t as bad if they would put limits into it. If they cannot eliminate it then might as well control its operations. They should protect the Filipino bettors from rigged results. I am not a gambler myself, but I think that Jueteng should be legalized. It is a possibility that those who resist Jueteng benefit from its illegal commission.