The Gambler -- MEDA 110 article

Inday struggles through the door with her groceries as her son Cedric, 3, clings to her and asks for a penny. She has to move fast if she doesn’t want her family to starve tonight. Her sister-in-law helps her prepare the dinner while she computes the previous results of last night’s lotto draw. For her, this routine is a must. “I do not know if this is effective, but I do it every night. For someone who relies on last-two for the daily expenses, I don’t see it as a gambling game anymore.”
Without a stable job to rely on, so many people have taken chances in gambling. Small-time betting like last-two is rampant. In this numbers game, the winning combination is derived from the last two numbers of the first prize of the Sweepstakes draw. Depending on the day of the week, the source of the winning combination varies from the 4-digit draw to the 6-digit draw. Like Jueteng, last two is an illegal numbers game listed under Republic Act No. 9287. Yet it still thrives in communities like the Juliville subdivision area where Inday and her family currently resides.
Besides being a regular bettor, she is also an “usher” or “kubrador”. She takes the bets and delivers them to the coordinator, who in turn remits to the financer. Ushers get 10 % of each bet and sometimes they get tips from winners. Her house is usually full of people every night. Discussions are inevitable. Everyday they make computations and comparisons. A regular commented that they do not need to study probability and permutation in school to learn how to use it in gambling. “Can’t read, can’t write, but can compute”, declared Mang Dodoy, who usually visits the Nodalo home and is also an usher.
“I know that it’s illegal and yet so many people like me make a living out of it somehow”, she said. Inday started “ushering” since 2003 when there was no way for her to find a decent job. She worked as as secretary before at Limso but decided that it was a waste of time and effort. “The kids need me more so I decided to just stay at home while my husband works.”
Like so many Filipinos, Inday Nodalo, 38 years old, is one of those college graduates who are jobless. Born and raised in Cateel, Davao Oriental, she went to Davao to try to find a better life.“I never regretted coming here to Davao. It has been tough for me but I’m happy that I have a good husband and great kids”, she adds, “Somehow through last two, I can send my kids to school and feed my family.” A mother of five, including the three-month old Dunler, she also sells food in the subdivision terminal every afternoon.
Even the kids work as part-time ushers, visiting nearby the nearby homes of the regulars. Danica, 10, and Jaida, 8, helps their mother collect the bets when they get home from school. The eldest, Jireh, 13 years old, serves as his father’s jeepney barker every weekend.
Despite the benefits, gambling has its setbacks. Once a raid was conducted by an undercover policeman. The local ushers were arrested and fined. “We do not know when the police will look into it again but we have somebody from their ranks who protects us”, she confided. “Some policemen are protectors, even financers and coordinators themselves. It is just a matter of bad timing and bad luck that we get caught or discovered.”
However Inday admits that sometimes she feels guilty of being involved in the activities yet she has no other option. Her husband objects to the kind of job she is into claiming that she spends more than the usual bet the other regulars put out. A previous incident three months ago led Danny to try and convince her to stop. While on labor and despite the pain, Inday had the feeling that she has to make a bet or else the birth will not be successful. She urged one of her kids to look for ushers or collectors in San Pedro Hospital. Before she gave birth to their youngest son, she made sure she placed a bet on her lucky number when Danica brought in the janitor. The neighbors find the story amusing and yet her husband Danny finds no humor in it. “She might have spent millions already. If she quit earlier, we could have been rich”, her husband Danny said jokingly. “I really don’t think it’s a bad choice, but then I don’t think that it is a good one too.”
Even the kids have mild complaints of their mother’s favorite hobby. “Sometimes she forgets to take a bath”, complained Jaida. “There are times when she neglects Cedric and he wanders in the neighborhood half-naked.”
Despite it all, Inday thinks she has been a good wife and mother. Danny and the kids agree. “Every mother should have an initiative. You should know how take advantage of things, no matter how small they are.”
“I’m happy with what I have. I cannot say I’m contented, but resorting to last two is the best way I can do to raise a decent family.” For Inday, gambling is not a crime at all. She said that if other mothers are looking for husbands from abroad, being an usher is not different. Mothers have to act or they will starve. “It helped some people I know. And it helped me.”