'Atong Ang does not own Meridien Vista Gaming'

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – A spokesman for a jai alai franchise in the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) denied yesterday that controversial businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang owns the firm.

Raul Banderas, spokesman for Meridien Vista Gaming Corp., said attempts to tag Ang as owner of the firm “(are) tainted with malicious intent.”

“Ang had been a consultant when (Meridien) was starting its operations of jai alai, being considered an expert technical consultant on the game. His stint as consultant ended with the start of the operations. Ang’s relationship with (Meridien) was downgraded into a consultant on call,” he said.

Banderas stressed that Ang “has no share or any stake in (Meridien)” and that attempts to paint the company and Ang as one and the same “are malicious, especially since news reports paint Ang as a criminal figure.”

Ang could not be reached for comment.

The gaming firm stressed that it was operating aboveboard and that a recent order by the Court of Appeals (CA) does not include the closure of its operations.

In its June 23 resolution, the CA upheld the cease-and-desist order of Games and Amusement Board (GAB) against Meridien’s off-fronton operation.

The GAB, as a state gambling regulatory body, argued that it should have regulatory supervision over jai alai, which Meridien is operating inside CEZA.

Meridien, on the other hand, claimed that a permit from GAB or from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, also a state-owned lottery and sweepstake regulation firm is no longer necessary, since its operation and franchise are sanctioned by CEZA, which has its own separate charter.

In addition, Meridien also claimed that its business license granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allows it to conduct gaming elsewhere in the country.

“(The CA) ruling clearly did not stipulate the closure of Meridien operations or even ordered police to conduct raids and make arrests in connection with the ruling,” Banderas said, adding that they would question the CA order all the way to the Supreme Court.

He said a closer look at the CA’s June 23 order showed that it was acting on a petition of GAB for it to exercise regulatory power on players of jai alai, which a regional trial court in Cagayan’s Aparri town denied but which the CA overturned.

“The case revolving around GAB’s attempts to exercise regulatory powers over (Meridien) is one of a simple regulatory issue and is not an order to shut down jai alai or (Meridien) operations,” Banderas stressed.

He said the case has not been discussed in the proper forum – the courts – before it was published in newspapers “to create an image of government cracking down on (Meridien) and jai alai,” which, he stressed, are “not hiding in the shadows as jueteng is.”

“There is clearly a malicious campaign to bring down (Meridien) and paint jai alai as a menace when the real menace (jueteng) is out there, continuing to line the pockets of officials in government,” he said.

Banderas said that Meridien’s jai alai had already been operating for three years without question with both the Aparri court and the CA already ruling on its legality.

Banderas’ statement came amid Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s ruling that Meridien operations outside CEZA are illegal.

As a result, the DOJ and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) ordered the crackdown on Meridien’s non-CEZA-based stations, whose operations were likened to jueteng.

Efforts to immediately reach CEZA for a statement proved futile. CEZA senior deputy administrator Nilo Aldeguer, who gave his earlier statement on a recent similar CA order for the zone’s possible resumption of its used car importation industry, could no longer be contacted through his mobile phone.

But a source close to CEZA said that it would abide by whatever the court decides with finality regarding Meridien’s gaming operation.

Banderas maintained that their firm has not violated any law or committed any illegal acts contrary to what some government officials, particularly the DOJ and DILG, are declaring.

“(Meridien) is under constant attack despite its efforts to operate within the bounds of law. These attacks are malicious at best and sinister at worst,” he stressed.

Created in 1995 through Republic Act 7922, CEZA, which is under the Office of the President, has it own charter. Meridien is one of its locators or investors inside the economic zone and Freeport based in Santa Ana, Cagayan.

Meridien has been branded by Church-led anti-jueteng groups as a mere legal cover for the continued operations of the illegal numbers game in some parts of Cagayan Valley, Ilocos and Bicol regions.