Lottery news from http://today.reuters.co.uk/
SAN FERNANDO, Philippines (Reuters) - At the first crow of the rooster each morning, Anita walks around her neighbourhood and shouts out the results of a popular but illegal numbers game in the Philippines called "jueteng".
Two to three hours later, she returns to her neighbours to collect bets of 1 peso (1.08 pence) to a few hundred. By noon, she makes another round to announce the results, pay the winners and take her small share of the proceeds.
By early evening, the 65-year-old grandmother repeats the cycle for the day's third and last draw.
"I have been doing this for more than half of my life," Anita, who asked that her last name not be used, told Reuters.
"I never get tired. I have no regrets and I'm ever thankful because I was able to send my children to school by just collecting jueteng bets."
Pronounced "hwet-eng", it is criticised by influential Roman Catholic bishops and other groups as a scam that victimises the poor, bribes police and provides illicit funds to politicians.
Anita is one of dozens of collectors called "kubrador" in Pampanga province, about 60 km (40 miles) north of Manila, sent back into action in February after almost a six-month lay-off during a crackdown on the grassroots game.
Five months ago, the cash-poor government began trial runs of a small town lottery (STL.L: Quote, Profile, Research) in selected cities and provinces outside Manila to allow bettors a legal alternative and give back thousands of jueteng workers their jobs.
Lauro Patiag, chief legal counsel of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, the agency running state lotteries, said the STL would be operated for about a year in 10 areas outside Manila to combat the illegal numbers game.
"We projected that the government would generate revenues of about 7-10 billion pesos from STL operations in just one year," Patiag told Reuters, adding only a few people benefit from jueteng operations.
"It's a win-win solution to control jueteng."
BACK IN BUSINESS
Introduced by Chinese traders during the Spanish colonial period centuries ago, the numbers game is played by Filipinos from all walks of life.
It played a big part in Joseph Estrada's removal as president in 2001 after he was accused of taking kickbacks from gambling syndicates and even overseeing some of their operations. Estrada is now on trial for corruption.
Jueteng, by some estimates worth 30 billion pesos a year, continues to haunt President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who promised to wipe out the game.
Last year, Arroyo's political opponents failed to impeach her over allegations of vote-rigging and graft, linking some members of her family to jueteng payoffs.
In late June, a group of lawyers, leftist activists and former allies brought fresh impeachment complaints against Arroyo before Congress, including allegations of encouraging jueteng.
Despite tough talk, crackdowns, inquiries and arrests, the game and the gangs that run it show signs of making a comeback as elections in May 2007 for Congress and local officials draw near.
PARALLEL OPERATIONS
"The jueteng structure is still intact," said Archbishop Oscar Cruz, one of Arroyo's most vocal critics. "The gambling lords, the collectors and operators are the same people who got the franchise in the STL."
Cruz said the government's decision to allow STL to operate in six areas of the main island of Luzon signalled the "unofficial" resumption of jueteng.
Police officials share the church leader's suspicions.
"We can't figure anymore if it's jueteng or STL," said Arturo Lomibao, the national police chief, adding officers were getting reports that jueteng people were being used in STL operations.
Patiag of the sweepstakes office said there were mechanisms to differentiate the legitimate lottery from jueteng, including identification cards for collectors and receipts with STL marks.
"It's easy to catch the illegal operations," said Patiag. "STL operates only in specific cities and provinces, so outside of these areas any betting would be illegal."
Some police officers are not convinced. They suspect kubrador wearing STL identification cards may be collecting bets for the state-operated lottery and jueteng at the same time.
Jueteng offers higher chances of winning, bigger prizes and more frequency than the STL because illegal gambling operators manipulate the process, choosing the combination with the smallest bets to rake in more profits.
Patiag said the STL draws were very transparent but risky, citing incidents of operators losing money when the bets collected were not enough to cover to winning payouts.
He said officials were trying to address the set-up because STL operators might lose interest, encouraging parallel jueteng operations.
"Jueteng is a like a dog with different collars," Anita said. "You can call it by whatever name but it's still jueteng. Our ancestors enjoyed playing it for hundreds of years. It's really unfair to deprive us of our little pleasure."
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