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Ronald (not his real name) decried the series of raid and arrest done by law enforcers against the uniformed and mobile collectors of Peryahan Games (Peryahan or Games for brevity) in Laoac – a 4th class town in the 48 cities and towns province Pangasinan.
“Noong December 23 at January 12 nandito ang mga taga NBI (National Bureau of Investigation). Bakit nila hina-harass ang mga taga Peryahan e legal na palaro ito dahil pag-aari ito ng PCSO (Philippine Charity Sweepstake Office?”.
His town just became a host last December 20 of the Games’ franchisee Global Tech Mobile Online.
The self-styled political kibitzer suspected that the raids against the collectors of the Peryahan the NBI alleged to front for jueteng were under the behest of big time gambling boss Atong Ang - whose multi-million pesos a day bet churning Meridian Jai Alai - is threatened by the Games’ 1-to-38 numbered Hulog Holen, a game of chance played like the illegal number game jueteng and Meridian’s Jai-Alai .
Palaro’s Many Games are Copy of Jueteng, Drop Ball, Etc.
Meridian and jueteng are played similarly like Holen but with only 1-to 37 combination as option combination to bettors.
Although there is almost no more jueteng played in the 2.8 populated province, the P10 million a day bets’ Meridian Jai-Alai has been given a semblance of legality after some of its smart-aleck lawyers filled an injunction case at the Court of Appeals that until now - for two years - the appellate court has yet to resolve whether it is legal or illegal. Anyare Court of Appeals?
Many of the games of Palaro are copy cats of jueteng, drop ball, video karera, and others.
“If you can’t beat ‘em, join’ ‘em?
Probably the imitation was a government strategy how to beat the decades old number games at the same time snare the funds they generate for the government coffer. Based on the Implementation Rules and Regulation (IRR) of the Peryahan these games are copyrighted and registered with intellectual property rights of the Philippines.They are Hulog Holen, Throw Coins, Gulong ng Swertres, Dart Baloon with Numbers, Rolets, Shooting Ring, Sa Pula, Sa Puti, Color Games, Drop Ball, Beto Beto, Karera, Bingo Dart, Sungka, Trumpo, and Pitik Bulag.
The difference between Peryahan Games and the P9 billion a year Jueteng racket in the country’s 12 provinces, the former remits 2% of the 30% Charity Fund based on the gross sales and receipts of the Games within the province, and 5% of the 30% Charity Fund based on the gross sales and receipts of the Games within the city or municipality while the latter are just, well, scandalous racket where monies go to the pockets of Gambling Lords, governors, congressmen, mayors and law enforcers while the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s personnel hold the empty proverbial bag like a fool.
Meridian’s seemingly spurious character is not spared with suspicion by people in the province. For instance several media men in Pangasinan have been asking why until now it has no office in any of the four cities and 44 towns of the province.
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Photo Credit:PhilStar |
Peryahan Games Need Not Secure Barangay, Mayor’s Permits