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ILAGAN, Isabela: Gov. Grace Padacá said jueteng
money would deluge the province in an effort to unseat her and
restore traditional politicians to the seat of power.
“Jueteng lords and their
backers will do everything including the use of their resources to
unseat me. I know they want to get back what they had invested by
having me unseated,” Padacá said.
She, however, stressed she is
unfazed by the threats of her opponents even as she vowed to
continue with her advocacy to rid the province of jueteng and other
illegal gambling activities.
“I know I am a thorn on their
side in so far as jueteng or the illegal numbers game is concerned.
Because of this they will use all means with the money they earned
from jueteng to take back the governor’s position and give it to
one who will not be against the numbers game,” she said.
The governor said while she is
not successful in totally eradicating jueteng in the province, she
certainly made life difficult for the jueteng lords and the local
officials supporting them.
She said based on information
provided to her by high-ranking officials at Camp Crame, the illegal
numbers game is difficult to stop because several local officials,
including a number of mayors and congressmen support the game.
Some mayors have admitted to
Padacá that they are on the take, telling her, “We are not
hypocrites, Madam.”
At least two mayors in Isabela—Fernando
Cumigad of Gamu and Amado Vallejo of Cordon openly denied the
existence of jueteng operations in their towns.
Some local officials of the
municipality of Echague likewise said there were no jueteng
operations in their town.
--PNA
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