By Jefferson Antiporda, Reporter
The Manila Times
The Manila Times
(From left) Resigned Interior undersecretary Rico Puno, Philippine National Police Director General Nicanor Bartolome, and retired archbishop Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan take their oaths before being grilled by senators probing the P1-billion PNP gun deal on Friday. PHOTO BY EDWIN MULI
CASINOS provide safe havens for illegal gambling kingpins to launder billions of the “dirty” money they rake from their nefarious activities, according to retired Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan.
Cruz, a staunch anti-jueteng crusader, told the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, revision of codes and laws, headed by Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, on Friday that jueteng operators and financiers
are frequent “players” in various casinos in the country where their profits are rolled and cleaned.
are frequent “players” in various casinos in the country where their profits are rolled and cleaned.
Because of this, Cruz said that jueteng and more than 30 other forms of illegal gambling continue to flourish.
The retired cleric said that he has several bases to support his claims.
Authorities, he said, can check the closed- circuit television (CCTV) camera recordings of all casinos in the country to find out who among known big time jueteng operators bet huge amounts money.
Sometimes these gambling lords use “gunners” or people who play on their behalf to avoid suspicion, Cruz further said.
He added that the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) could check their recordings to see for themselves how gambling lords use casinos to launder money.
P30-B industry
Santiago previously disclosed that jueteng is an industry that earns a whopping P30 billion annually and that one percent of the profits go to the secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
The lawmaker, who initiated Friday’s probe on the supposed involvement of Interior undersecretary Rico Puno in jueteng and for his other shortcomings in the department, said that she is convinced that the proliferation of illegal gambling in the country indicates that the activity enjoys the protection from national officials.
Santiago said that jueteng is as strong as it was in 2010 when she delivered her speech about illegal gambling and stressed that it will not continue to flourish without protection from local officials, the police and even those in higher offices.
Puno, who received intense grilling from lawmakers, recently resigned from his post. When asked by Santiago if he was receiving jueteng money, he answered “no.”
Santiago went on to ask if Puno knew someone in Malacañang who may be in the payroll of illegal gambling operators. Puno then replied: “Wala rin po ako alam [I have no idea].”
Santiago said that Puno’s answers were evasive because being assigned as the undersecretary on peace and order of the DILG he should have done something to curb jueteng and even have an idea as to who were those behind its operations.
“All the answers virtually were evasive, although I did not get the answer I wanted still I was not surprised. I anticipated the nature of the answer which was evasion, vagueness and ambiguity,” she pointed out.
Separate probe
Cruz’s revelations on alleged jueteng money laundering in casinos drew the attention of Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd who chairs the committee on games and amusement. Pimentel said that since Pagcor and casinos fall under his panel, he asked Cruz to put in writing everything he knows about laundering of gambling money.
“I will do that,” Cruz replied.
When asked about his assessment on the current illegal gambling situation in the country, Cruz said that jueteng and other forms of gambling are much alive during the administration of President Benigno Aquino 3rd.
“It is much alive during the GMA [Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo] administration and it is much alive during the Aquino administration, walang pagkakaiba [there is no difference],” said Cruz in an interview after the Senate hearing.
Drugs, too
In June, The Manila Times ran a series about how casinos are used by drug traffickers in laundering drug money by converting them into chips.
In an undated report, a copy of which was obtained by The Times, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) said that drug traffickers are more comfortable transacting business in casinos and other gambling spots because chips are safer to handle than crisp bills, which could turn out to be marked money.
“Casinos and other similar gambling establishments are also reported to have been used in transacting drug deals wherein payments for the illegal drugs are converted into casino chips to avoid handling marked money,” the report said.
A confidential informant from PDEA who gave The Times a copy of the report said that casinos are efficient venues for money laundering not only by drug dealers but by other criminals as well because chips can be converted to either clean cash or check.
“It’s fast and it’s easy to launder money in casinos. Even if we used marked money in sting operations where serial numbers are recorded prior to the bust and once the dealer requested to convert the money into chips, that will be a big problem. Marked bills would be useless,” the informant said.
No power
Criminal syndicates find casinos as the most effective and safest place to clean their money because the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has no power to pry into the transactions of high rollers who are suspected to be involved in nefarious activities.
At present, only banks are required to report financial transactions to the AMLC but with the expected the approval of Senate Bill 3123, the council can check the transactions of other financial institutions including casinos.
Senate Bill 3123 is one of the three measures filed before the Senate seeking to give the AMLC with more powers. The measure will strengthen and correct the shortcomings of the existing law and go after money launderers and similar offenders.
The authors of the bill seek to expand the list of entities required to report financial transactions to the AMLC by including casinos, dealers, pre-need companies, real estate agents, and trust and company providers, among others.
With the passage of the measure, the council can check the transactions of other financial institutions including casinos.
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