Jai alai off-fronton betting stopped

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Tuesday declared illegal the operation of jai alai betting centers outside the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza), and ordered the arrest of the operators of off-fronton stations and those collecting bets for them.

De Lima said a Department of Justice (DoJ) legal study showed that the franchise granted to Meridien Vista Gaming Corp. (MVGC) allowed the firm to operate jai alai and collect bets outside the 54,000-hectare free port “only if it’s allowed by law.”

She said the DoJ was “still looking into” reports that Charlie “Atong” Ang, a former gambling buddy of former President Joseph Estrada, owned Meridien.

“That issue is not important or relevant to this legal issue. But it’s widely known that Meridien is Atong Ang,” she said.

A joint memorandum issued by De Lima and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo ordered the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies “to proceed with the search and seizure of off-fronton betting stations … as well as effect the arrest and prosecution of operators and maintainers.”

Harassment cases

According to De Lima, she ordered a review of the legal issues pertaining to Meridien’s operations upon the request of Robredo and law enforcement units.

She said members of the PNP had been complaining of “harassment cases” filed against them by Meridien whenever they arrested its bet collectors.

In their joint memorandum, De Lima and Robredo ordered the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation to lead the crackdown on all jai alai betting joints outside the Cagayan free port.

She said Meridien employees caught collecting bets could be arrested even without warrants since they were caught “in flagrante delicto,” or while committing the crime.

‘Jueteng’ lords

Meridien, in a statement, said De Lima might have been fed false information by those threatened by jai alai, such as the “jueteng” (illegal numbers racket) lords. The gaming firm warned it might file a countersuit.

Speaking to reporters, De Lima said Meridien could not invoke earlier rulings by the Aparri Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals to justify the establishment of betting joints in Metro Manila and other provinces.

“We found out that whatever authority given to (Meridien) by those court rulings, as well as by Ceza, is qualified by the very important phrase ‘as may be allowed by law,’” De Lima said.

“So even if (Meridien) has a license in its favor that it may set up wagering stations within and outside the free port, there’s a qualifying phrase … and we found out that there’s no such law allowing jai alai operations outside the (Ceza),” she added.

Old law

De Lima also said police operations ordered by Robredo showed that some jai alai bet collectors had been actually collecting bets for jueteng.

She said Republic Act No. 954 (An Act to Prohibit Certain Activities in Connection with Horse Races and Basque Pelota Games) explicitly outlawed the collection of bets outside the places where jai alai is played.

“This is an old law, which has not been repealed, that prohibits off-fronton betting stations for jai alai,” she said.

De Lima said RA 954 clearly “declared” that setting up off-fronton betting stations was a “criminal act and penalized under Section 5” of the law.

“It is clear that the (court rulings were) silent on the legality of the operation of off-fronton betting stations by (Meridien),” she said.

In a judicial interpretation of the law creating Ceza, both the Aparri RTC and the appellate court ruled that Ceza had the authority to operate or license jai alai.

Expedite cases

De Lima and Robredo directed local government units to revoke all business permits and licenses issued to Meridien’s off-fronton centers.

De Lima also ordered public prosecutors to expedite the cases filed against those arrested for operating off-fronton bets and not to use the Aparri RTC rulings in dismissing the complaints.

“Criminal cases filed or to be filed by (Meridien) … against local executives and law enforcement officials … to effect the closure and seizure of off-fronton betting stations … are to be considered harassment cases,” she said.

Meridien insisted the operation of its off-site betting joints was consistent with the law and that De Lima might have “just fallen for wrong information fed to her by jueteng lords who continue to operate with impunity.”

The company said De Lima’s claim that collecting bets outside Ceza was unlawful “is obviously borne out of complete disregard of the facts and the law.”

“She is … entitled to her own wrong opinion which was based on the 1953 law already superseded by many other laws. There is a clear conspiracy to divert attention away from continued jueteng operations,” Meridien said.

Just in time

The company also claimed that De Lima’s legal opinion might have been issued in time for the launch of the government’s Loterya ng Bayan in August.

“We firmly believe that our operation could be a threat to Loterya ng Bayan which system of operation (is) similar to Small Town Lottery. And this Loterya ng Bayan could be also used as front for jueteng,” Meridien claimed.

The firm’s spokesperson, Raul Banderas, said on the phone that De Lima could not stop Meridien’s off-fronton operations because the legal controversy remained pending in the Supreme Court.

He said Meridien would be compelled to continue filing charges against policemen and NBI agents who would raid its betting stations and arrest its personnel.

In October last year, Sen. Mirian Defensor-Santiago said the return of jai alai had sparked a resurgence of “masiao” in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Masiao is an illegal numbers racket based on the three-number winning combination of the special llave in jai alai.

The special llave is televised nationwide, enabling gamblers to monitor the result of the jai alai event. With a report from Melvin Gascon, Inquirer Northern Luzon