Antibingo memo fans Lim-Estrada war

Two weeks into the campaign period, hostilities continue to escalate in the Manila local elections.

Former President and now mayoralty candidate Joseph Estrada and his running mate Isko Moreno on Tuesday said they had obtained documents suggesting that the arrest of Moreno and five allied councilors over a bingo game they sponsored on Feb. 16 stemmed from an order given days earlier by the reelectionist Alfredo Lim.

In a press conference, Estrada and Moreno said the papers contradicted Lim’s earlier statements denying any hand in the incident and thus confirmed their earlier allegations that the arrest was “politically motivated.”

They challenged Lim to make good earlier pronouncements that he would resign if his critics could prove that he was behind the police operation against Moreno and company.

“A source from the mayor’s office came to my house on Manga Road in Sta. Mesa and volunteered the documents without asking for anything in return,” Estrada said.

One of the documents was a memo dated Jan. 26, 2013, and addressed to Lim’s chief of staff Rick de Guzman, Barangay Bureau director Ana Buan and Manila Police District director Chief Supt. Alex Gutierrez.

It showed Lim ordering the recipients to “disseminate information that a bingo game is a form of gambling and appropriate action should be taken against it.” The memo also had a handwritten marginal note describing the directive as a “priority.”

Moreno, the incumbent vice mayor, showed subsequent memos issued by other City Hall officials basically conveying Lim’s directive.

“We are now asking Mayor Lim to show that he’s really a man of his word,’’ he said, referring to Lim’s earlier statement that he would resign. “Here’s the proof. Let’s see if he’s a man of his word or just another trapo (traditional politician).’’

Reached for comment, Lim confirmed issuing the Jan. 26 memo but noted that he did it 21 days before Moreno and company were arrested. “Is there anything in it that says: Arrest Isko Moreno?”

He dismissed the Estrada camp’s allegation as “nonsense,” adding: “Why should I answer them concerning a baseless interpretation of a general order?”

Lim nevertheless explained that he issued the memo in response to queries from barangay officials regarding the holding of bingo games in their respective villages during the election season.

“There were many who were asking me if they could hold bingo games, so I said bingo is a form of illegal gambling and I ordered the police to take appropriate action,” he said.

“I didn’t know they (Moreno and allies) would hold one and yet they’re linking me to what happened. How would I know? I’m no seer,” he said.

De Guzman, meanwhile, maintained that the memo “was not meant to harass anyone.”

“These documents showed that based on Lim’s order, De Guzman and the police arrested us,” said Moreno, who spent around 12 hours in detention when a police team broke up the afternoon bingo game that gathered around 500 residents in Manila’s Sta. Ana area.

Moreno and five councilors were charged with illegal gambling and obstructing traffic. They later questioned the legality of the arrest in the city prosecutor’s office and in the National Police Commission.

Later in media interviews, Moreno also pointed out that Lim allowed fund-raising bingo games to be held in Manila in the past, back when they were still allies.