Governor Melchor echoed an earlier statement of Baguio Mayor Braulio Yaranon and leaders of private groups who are opposing the entry of STL in Baguio and Benguet.

Melchor said the STL is not the solution to the jueteng problem. Allowing the operations of game in the province, he said, would only promote another form of gambling.

He also said the national government could push its campaign against illegal gambling without introducing another form of gambling.

Baguio Mayor Yaranon publicly announced last week his opposition to the entry of STL in the city although unconfirmed reports stated that 69 out of the over 100 barangays of Baguio favor STL

The Baguio-Benguet ecumenical group of churches likewise voiced its opposition and is preparing an anti-STL signature drive.

Last Tuesday, DILG Benguet Director Myrna Monayao said she would not hinder the operation of STL if the game were to be introduced in Benguet.

Answering a querry by Board Member Apolinario Camsol, Monayao said her office has no legal basis to order police authorities to stop the STL, a national government’s project aimed at eradicating "jueteng," the illegal numbers game.

Benguet Vice Gov. Crescencio Pacalso said, however, the provincial board would not rely only on Monayao’s opinion in coming up with a stand on STL.

Baguio Councilor Galo Weygan who leads the Baguio Council for Clean, Peaceful and Progressive City stated in a draft resolution that "STL is a legalized form of jueteng. It is an instrument of making the poor poorer because STL leads them to depend on games of chance instead of working honestly for a living."

Lawyer Alex Bangsoy, spokesperson of the Baguio-Benguet Multi-Sectoral Group (BBMSG), said the group has also drafted a similar anti-STL manifesto.

He said that "the government has already reached its lowest point by sponsoring mass gambling. A gambling-funded government will fail to lead its constituents. It will lose every strand of moral authority."