Legalized jueteng revenues can fix classroom shortage – solon

And enable gov't to achieve Millennium Development Goal on education

Press Release
September 28, 2010

QUEZON CITY  –  The estimated P30 billion in annual revenues from legalized jueteng are more than enough to address the country's widespread classroom shortage, and enable the Aquino administration to achieve the Millennium Development Goal to put every child in school by 2015, Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said Sunday.

Unless government quickly finds ways to mobilize extraordinary revenues, including potential earnings from legalized jueteng, Barzaga said it would be "impossible to send and keep every child in school inside five years."

"In terms of assured recurring non-tax revenues that can finance the construction of new classrooms, or the enlistment of additional teachers, nothing can match government's projected earnings from legalized jueteng," he pointed out.

Barzaga is author of a bill seeking to legalize jueteng and channel its proceeds primarily to support both basic and higher education, and partly to provide for a 25-percent increase in the salaries of local government employees and police units at the barangay, municipal, city and provincial levels.

President Aquino said in his first State of the Nation Address that his administration would need up to P130 billion to fully address the public school system's classroom scarcity alone.

However, in the proposed 2011 General Appropriations Act, due to lack of funds, only P12.4 billion has been earmarked to build a total of 13,147 additional classrooms.

One of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that the Philippines and other United Nations member states agreed to achieve between 1990 to 2015 is "universal primary education."

The goal binds government to "ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling."

But funding issues have prevented government from solving the massive shortfall in classrooms and other resources that Barzaga said are key to achieving "100 percent primary school enrolment and completion" ahead of the 2015 deadline.

Citing official statistics, Barzaga said that between 1990 to 2008, the country's "net enrolment ratio in primary education" increased by only one-half of a full percentage point, from 84.6 percent to 85.1 percent, whereas the MDG target indicator is 100 percent by 2015.

He added that between 1990 to 2008, the country's "proportion of pupils starting Grade 1 who reach Grade 6" improved only marginally, from 69.7 percent to 75.4 percent, whereas the MDG target indicator is 100 percent by 2015.

Also between 1990 to 2008, Barzaga said the country's "primary (schooling) completion rate" increased only minimally, from 64.2 percent to 73.3 percent, whereas the MDG target indicator is 100 percent by 2015.

Barzaga said he expects government's potential revenue from legalized jueteng to be "incremental" every year. He said more people would embrace legalized jueteng, "since the draws will be totally clean, transparent and fair."

"Right now, illegal jueteng operators rig the draws. So it is not true that the illicit numbers game is a victimless crime. The mostly poor Filipinos patronizing it now are in fact being swindled in a big way by racketeers," he said.

As proposed by Barzaga in House Bill 3289, cities and municipalities would be authorized to operate jueteng or any variant of the numbers game within their jurisdiction, except the lotto. They may implement only one numbers game in their area, after due public consultation and deliberation.

City and municipal governments would openly conduct the draws, for all to see, just the lotto draws of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. All collectors and agents would be considered as city or municipal employees.