Illegal arrest of Peryahan agents in Quezon City questioned

MANILA, Philippines — Gaming technology firm Globaltech Mobile Online Corp. (Globaltech) has questioned the arrest of agents of its Peryahan ng Bayan (PnB) games that resumed operations earlier this week.

Globaltech vice president for legal affairs Bernard Vitriolo said the arrest of their sales agents Evelyn Calda and Juvito Hitosis last Monday by operatives of Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 9 was illegal.

Vitriolo said the agents were arrested on the first day of the resumption of PnB games on Oct. 28 despite the authorization issued by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) following a three-month moratorium.

“This incident is proof that law enforcers have been illegally raiding and harassing our Peryahan operators and agents. Why are they targeting Peryahan when we have all necessary permits and have been complying with requirements of PCSO while they continue to ignore illegal gambling operations like jueteng?” he told The STAR.

The Globaltech executive revealed that Calda and Hitosis were arrested by police operatives from their respective stations even after the firm had already notified QCPD director Col. Ronnie Montejo of PCSO’s permit for PnB operations to resume.

He said the two agents were brought to QCPD Station 9 under the command of Maj. Feliciano Almojuela Jr. for supposed “investigation” as ordered by their “chief.” 

The PnB agents presented the PCSO permit and other necessary documents to prove the legality of their operations, but they were still brought to the police station by the arresting officers who refused to identify themselves.

The two were released only when PCSO representatives went to the police station to explain to the officers that PnB operations have already been allowed to resume.

The arresting officers were told not to interrupt PnB games again given the authority to resume operations issued by PCSO.

Sources said Montejo, who was just designated to his post last September, was not informed of the operation conducted by QCPD Station 9 and that there was “no coordination” made on the arrest.

 Vitriolo said they would study possible legal actions against the police officials and their superiors over the illegal arrest.

He cited earlier instances when operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and National Bureau of Investigation arrested PnB operators and agents without legal basis.

PnB draw centers nationwide reopened on Oct. 28 after PCSO authorized Globaltech to resume the numbers game through a formal notice on Oct. 25.

Through general manager Royina Garma, the PCSO allowed the resumption of PnB operations in the National Capital Region, Cebu City, Zamboanga City, Rizal, Pangasinan, Oriental Mindoro, Bohol, Palawan, Puerto Princesa and Zamboanga del Sur.

The operations of PnB and other games like Lotto, small-town lottery and Keno were ordered suspended by President Duterte to due reported corruption in PCSO and non-remittance of income to government by the gaming operators.

PnB was cleared on this issue after it was found that it was the easiest to audit among the games because machines automatically remit revenue figures to PCSO.  

Industry sources bared that the sales of legitimate games like STL and Peryahan in Metro Manila dropped because illegal games like jueteng continue to flourish due to alleged inaction from law enforcers.

The PCSO, under the previous leadership, only had a legal conflict with Globaltech involving the validity of their agreement for the PnB operations, but it was already settled by the courts in favor of the private operator.

The Court of Appeals had ordered PCSO to continue sending representatives to PnB games as it upheld the status quo ante order (SQAO) issued by Pasig City regional trial court (RTC) Branch 161 in May 2016, which stopped the regulator’s revocation of the deed of authority (DOA) for PnB operations of Globaltech.

The appellate court had likewise “directed to forthwith submit themselves to arbitration conformably with the terms of their written agreement.”

In the two-page notice, Garma said the PCSO will comply with the CA order.

The PCSO executive, who started implementing anti-corruption reforms in the agency, said they have also notified the leadership of the Philippine National Police on the resumption of PnB games in 2,762 outlets nationwide following the earlier arrest of operators by local police despite valid and standing permit.

The PCSO terminated the deed of authority with Globaltech in February 2016 through Resolution No. 51 due to the firm’s alleged failure to remit P50 million in revenue to the gaming regulatory agency.

 But Globaltech questioned the termination of the DOA and attributed its failure to raise the amount to PCSO’s refusal to grant the firm regularization for a full eight-year period for which it qualified.

 It explained that the lack of a regular permit from PCSO has repercussions on its operations, specifically citing the denial of business permit for its draw center in Laoc, Pangasinan and the threats of arrest of its sales agents from law enforcement authorities.  

Globaltech secured relief from both the RTC and CA and secured orders compelling PCSO to allow its PnB operations to continue.

The courts ordered parties to resolve the dispute through arbitration or judicial dispute resolution while allowing Globaltech to continue with its PnB operations.