MANILA, 30 June 2005 — Now, a bit of history on jueteng, an illegal numbers game that had long thrived in the Philippines.

The past haunts the beleaguered first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, now under fire not only because he is married to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo but also because his connection to jueteng can be traced directly to his grandfather, Don Mariano Arroyo, disgraced jueteng coddler and protector.

Pages 105-106 of the book entitled Phoenix: The Saga of the Lopez Family unfolds the story in the Iloilo in the central Philippines in 1929 when Chinese Luis Sane, popularly known as Sualoy, was recognized as the “king of jueteng” in that province.

He operated with gusto and impunity, amassing great wealth by bribing politicians and police for his safe conduct of business. There had been no raids nor reprimands whatsoever despite the government ban on jueteng.

Ening Lopez, publisher of El Tiempo, began a campaign against jueteng in Iloilo, seeing that it has caused corruption in the local government. He charged that Iloilo Governor Mariano Arroyo, city police chief Marcelo Buenaflor and his brother Congressman Tomas Buenaflor had been bribed by Sualoy to turn a blind eye on jueteng. Governor Arroyo was the brother of the late Jose Arroyo, a Nacionalista senator and good friend of Senate President Manuel Luis Quezon.

Verbal tussles ensued and the public, outraged by the exposed corruption in government, began to scrutinize and be wary of the political clan.

As a way of covering up, Governor Arroyo issued a statement to the public denying the existence of jueteng in Iloilo.

But Ening Lopez stood his ground and continuously exposed jueteng activities by publishing the boxed winning numbers in bold face on his newspaper’s front page everyday. And so the public pressure and outrage, initiated by Lopez’s El Tiempo, forced the Philippine Constabulary to raid Sualoy’s jueteng headquarters. Sualoy was charged, found guilty, imprisoned and was deported to die obscurely in China.

With Sualoy out, the conflict had narrowed to a match between El Tiempo and Governor Arroyo.

The campaign had captured the public trust that it made El Tiempo the leading newspaper in the city.

Embarrassed, Governor Arroyo filed a libel suit against Lopez in 1930.

The book’s author, Raul Rodrigo, writes: “As the struggle intensified, some Lopezes sensed in it some unwelcome echoes of political tempest that had taken the life of Ening’s father (Benito Lopez) 22 years before. El Tiempo’s editor, Jose Magalona, was badly beaten by a local thug who was believed to be in the employ of the governor’s men. The older Lopezes were afraid that as the row grew more heated, Ening might eventually share his fathers fate.”

The news had reached Manila and attracted the interest of American Governor General Dwight Davis who sent Judge Manuel Moran to investigate the libel case.

Moran established that Arroyo and the police chief were in fact heavily involved in illegal gambling. He even found out that the duo ran a gambling den as a means of generating money for the upcoming 1931 elections. He likewise dismissed the libel charges filed against Lopez and El Tiempo.

Senate President Quezon and the Nacionalistas began backing away from Arroyo that when Arroyo asked that he be acquitted of the administrative charges, Quezon refused.

After his trial, Governor General Davis ordered Arroyo relieved of his post for corruption. Iloilo Mayor Garganera and police chief Buenaflor were suspended.

Several months after, the sacked governor staged a protest rally and attempted to make a political comeback but his disgrace had been marked and he sank into obscurity.

Now, a postscript to history.

Don Mariano Arroyo had a brother, Jose Arroyo y Pidal, who is the grandfather of first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s husband Mike Arroyo has a younger brother, Jose Ignacio Arroyo, a congressman of Negros Occidental, who is also linked with jueteng in the province. President and Mike Arroyo’s son Mikey, who is a representative for Pampanga province, has also be tagged as a beneficiary of jueteng money.