QC gov’t seeks dismissal of TRO on STL crackdown
May 5, 2006 | 12:00am
Can a court restrain the city government from implementing a cease and desist order against the operation of the small town lottery (STL), which has been implemented for failure of the plaintiff to secure a mayor’s permit?
Lawyers of the Quezon City government sought yesterday the dismissal of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) filed by Benchmark Acquisition International Corp. against the cease and desist order issued by City Hall.
In a 12-page motion filed with Judge Benelito Fernandez, of the QC Regional Trial Court Branch 97, city government lawyers, headed by Christian Valencia, chief of the city legal department, said the plaintiff failed to attach original copies of the documents submitted in their petition and that they have not exhausted all administrative remedies available to them.
The petition also said that the TRO would no longer be applicable because the operation of the lottery has been stopped.
"The STL has cease to operate so the TRO can no longer apply," Valencia told The STAR.
He said the STL operator was given by the court five days to answer the petition.
As the closed-door hearing was going on, some 50 STL employees held up placards outside, seeking the resumption of operations for the numbers game in the city.
The Quezon City government launched a crackdown on the legalized version of jueteng game last month after it failed to secure a business permit to operate in the city.
The STL operators insisted they no longer needed a permit because they have been authorized by the Philippine Charities Sweepstakes Office to operate the dry-run of the STL in Quezon City.
Police later launched a crackdown and filed criminal cases against STL operators who defied the cease and desist order of the city government.
Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has stood pat on his decision to keep STL away from the city, saying Quezon City does not need a legalized form of the numbers game because it is jueteng-free.
Lawyers of the Quezon City government sought yesterday the dismissal of a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) filed by Benchmark Acquisition International Corp. against the cease and desist order issued by City Hall.
In a 12-page motion filed with Judge Benelito Fernandez, of the QC Regional Trial Court Branch 97, city government lawyers, headed by Christian Valencia, chief of the city legal department, said the plaintiff failed to attach original copies of the documents submitted in their petition and that they have not exhausted all administrative remedies available to them.
The petition also said that the TRO would no longer be applicable because the operation of the lottery has been stopped.
"The STL has cease to operate so the TRO can no longer apply," Valencia told The STAR.
He said the STL operator was given by the court five days to answer the petition.
As the closed-door hearing was going on, some 50 STL employees held up placards outside, seeking the resumption of operations for the numbers game in the city.
The Quezon City government launched a crackdown on the legalized version of jueteng game last month after it failed to secure a business permit to operate in the city.
The STL operators insisted they no longer needed a permit because they have been authorized by the Philippine Charities Sweepstakes Office to operate the dry-run of the STL in Quezon City.
Police later launched a crackdown and filed criminal cases against STL operators who defied the cease and desist order of the city government.
Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has stood pat on his decision to keep STL away from the city, saying Quezon City does not need a legalized form of the numbers game because it is jueteng-free.
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