P50K a day jueteng for the mayor

By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

Barangay chairmen in a town have been smarting to their mayor.
A kapitan told me lately that each of them used to receive a variance of P1000 to P2000 jueteng payola monthly from their generous former mayor through the illegal number game’s bankero.
“Pang gas daw o para sa mga indigents”.

With the new mayor they initially received a stipend of only P500 a month from jueteng’s successor Meridian.
“Anak ng jueteng, P500 a month from the bankero? Talo kayo ng mga hao-shiao (fake) na media man, kinikita ng bawat isa iyang (P500) o mahigit pa sa isang araw lang na ikot-ikot nila," I exclaimed.
Worse, according to my kapitan source, the mayor’s bag man totally cut off their P500 since last year.
"Kaya wala na kaming tinatangap maski isang pisong duling diyan!"
The mayor of this town's earns a daily of P35,000 from the number game.
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There are many police stations in Pangasinan that have no police patrol cars as efficient means to fight criminals.
But a small third class town Dasol in the province got three of these vehicles. Thanks to the intercession of its illustrative son former Philippine National Police’s Chief Director General Jesus Verzosa.
Source told me those police cars are owned by the PNP and not Dasol.
So why not the Police Provincial Director Rey Biay not get two of that vehicles and distribute them to those towns – even bigger than Dasol so we can mitigate crime rates in the huge province?
But my source told me Dasol Mayor Noel Nacar would move heaven and earth in protecting the three cars.
Does Nacar the political nemesis of the Verzosas? The mayor had an ugly spat with Eric Versoza, the general’s son, when the latter challenged Nacar for the mayoralty in the 2013 election.

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Election related bickering in Bayambang, Pangasinan has been in feverish pitch nowadays. Selected media men these days have been smiling to heaven.
After business tycoon Cesar Quaimbao (Skyway in Metro Manila and computerization of the Land Transportation Office’s fame) and mayoralty aspirant  Levin Uy gave each of them P3000 talent fee after they were called to map a strategy to boost Uy's stocks.
The eloquent Levin, who had some school stints in South Cotabato, is a political survivor. He wiggled himself to popularity from former Mayor Leo de Vera, then darling of the media, incumbent Mayor Ric Camacho, and now with business tycoon and proud son of the onion and garlic rich town. Quiambao used to financially support the two mayors until they fell from his graces.
Levin is pitted against the wife of Camacho (a last term mayor), Vice Mayor Mylvin T. Junio, and Councilor Chato Junio for the 2016 mayoralty race.
Camacho’s  lawyer Raffy Martinez was unfazed by the financial support showered by tycoon Quaimbao to Levin and his  media rah-rah boys. He said when Camacho and Gerry de Vera tangled for the 2007 mayoralty derby, his client had only P2 million campaign funds while Quaimbao and de Vera had P32 million in their campaign chest.
“Pero ano ang nangyari? Tinalo namin si Quaimbao and de Vera!,” Martinez cited to me.
When I told Martinez that Quaimbao and Uy have been distributing wireless CCTV cameras to every nook and cranny of the every 77 barangays there, Martinez became emphatic. He said he advice Camacho to charge Quimbao and Uy in court because what they were doing was illegal.
“Walang ordinance sa Sangguniang Bayan. Tapos iyong mga cameras hindi sa public place nakatutok but on the residential areas. Violation of privacy! Tapos kuryente pa ng barangay ang gagamitin. Dahil public funds, dapat may ordinance. Worst, sila Quimbao and Uy ang may hawak ng monitor ng mga camera!” he told me when I told him that I saw at the local cable TV that the CCTV cameras would be donated to the police.
Moreover, according to my mole a former top official, just like big town Malasiqui and big city San Carlos, the mayor of the huge Bayambang town earns more than P50,000 a day during the heydays of illegal number game jueteng.
(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)