35 nabbed for jueteng seek preliminary probe

MANILA, Philippines - Lawyers representing 35 gaming firm employees arrested during an anti-jueteng raid asked two Parañaque City courts to conduct preliminary investigation after the city prosecutor found probable cause to charge them for illegal gambling.

In a five-page motion and entry of appearance, lawyer Angelo Santos of the Fortun, Narvasa, and Salazar law firm said his clients – all working for Meridien Vista Gaming Corp. – “firmly believe” that the evidence is not sufficient to charge them.

The 35 were arrested by members of the Southern Police District intelligence division on Jan. 7 on allegations that they were using the betting stations of legal gambling game Virtual 2 as dens of jueteng, an illegal numbers game.

Parañaque City assistant prosecutor Oliver Hernandez found probable cause against the 35 and filed charges against them before Regional Trial Court Branches 196 and 257. The courts set the hearing on Feb. 4 and 7, respectively.

Santos said his request would be vital in protecting his clients against “hasty, malicious, and oppressive prosecution, and to protect (them) from an open and public accusation of crime, from the trouble, expense and anxiety of a public trial, and also to protect the state from useless and expensive” proceedings.