Cauayan City Mayor Bernard Faustino Dy of Isabela has been slapped with criminal and administrative raps before the Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday due to the reportedly illegal raid of a small town lottery (STL) facility in the city back in November.
The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), represented by its General Manager Royina Garma and Sahara Games and Amusement Philippines Corporation (SAHARA) President Eduardo Davalan led the filing of the 16-page complaint.
Dy has been slapped with graft raps alongside Cauayan City Legal Officer Eman Marquez, Business and Permit Licensing Officer Atty. Sherwin Luna, Public Order and Safety Division (POSD) chief Pilarito Malilin, and several other unnamed POSD personnel.
All of them were also slapped with grave coercion and robbery with intimidation, which are defined and penalized under the Revised Penal Code (RPC).
Separate administrative charges of grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service as defined and penalized under R.A. 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and employees were also filed against them.
SAHARA is an authorized agent of the PCSO to conduct STL operations in Isabela province. But on November 5, Dy and the other respondents conducted an illegal and unauthorized raid at the PCSO's STL "draw court" - the facility by which the winning numbers in lottery games are drawn - in Brgy. Fermin, Cauayan City.
The complaint stated that Dy and his men forcibly confiscated the draw machine and other lottery equipment, even as they failed to present any search warrant or any court order authorizing the raid. The only thing Dy showed, according to the complainants, was the demand letter to the SAHARA group to stop their operation because they have no business permit to operate STL in the province of Isabela.
The PCSO and SAHARA maintained that they have the authority to conduct STLs even without a business permit issued by the local government unit (LGU). This was mandated under the Implementing Rules and Regulation (IRR) promulgated by the PCSO board of directors, which was concurred in by the Department of Finance.
The PCSO added that the STL was formed in order to put a stop to jueteng, last-two, and other illegal numbers operations.
For his part, Dy said that he has not yet received a copy of the formal complaint although he has already heard about it from the news.
"We'll just go through the legal process and answer whatever allegations they made in the complaint, with supporting evidence that the actions undertaken by the officers of the LGU are in compliance with the mandates of the law to regulate any kind of activity in the city for the welfare of the people of Cauayan City," he said.