Erap, Isko show ‘proof’ Lim ordered bingo arrests

MANILA, Philippines - Former President Joseph Estrada and his running mate, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, presented yesterday documents they claim prove that Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim ordered the arrest of Moreno and five councilors over a bingo game last February.

In a press conference held in Ermita, Moreno showed a copy of an order signed by Lim bearing a marginal note with “instructions to arrest persons involved in bingo activities and consider the game illegal in the city.”

Moreno said Lim promised to resign if it is proven he ordered the arrest of Moreno and five District 3 councilors.

“If they are able to prove it that I ordered the arrest of the vice mayor and the five councilors, I will resign. Okay? But if they are not able to prove it, and what they are saying are all lies, they should resign. I challenge them,” Lim said in a press conference at the city hall on Feb. 18, two days after Moreno and the five councilors were collared by police officers for allegedly sponsoring a bingo game in Sta. Cruz.

Moreno and Councilors Jong Isip, Joel Chua, Re Fugoso, Letlet Zarcal and Yul Servo were detained at the Manila Police District Station 3 for 11 hours until they were ordered released for further investigation by Prosecutor Elaine Yarra-Cerezo. The case against them is set for preliminary investigation this week.

Moreno said there were subsequent orders coming from Lim’s chief of staff Ric de Guzman and lawyer Anna Buan, head of the Manila Barangay Bureau, and other MPD precincts “following the order of the local chief executive.”

Over dinner

Estrada said he, Moreno, and other party leaders were having dinner in his house on April 3 when a man showed up, introduced himself as a city hall employee, and handed him the documents.

“He said he just loved the city and he don’t want it to go to waste. He never mentioned his name and did not accept the money I was giving him for his taxi fare,” Estrada said.

The documents include a district daily report dated Jan. 26, 2013 with a marginal note from Lim purportedly saying that it was priority and instructing De Guzman, Buan and then MPD district director Chief Superintendent Alejandro Gutierrez to “disseminate information that bingo is gambling and appropriate actions should be taken.”

There was also an order from De Guzman addressed to Buan and Gutierrez dated Feb. 1 bearing the same note, and a memorandum by Senior Inspector Robinson Maranion to the commanders of Plaza Miranda and Barbosa police community precincts carrying the same note.

Estrada said the police officers who arrested Moreno would not have the temerity to do what they did if there was no order from “the higher ups.”

He denied that they have moles in the city hall.

‘Birds of the same feather’

Lim, on the other hand, admitted that he gave the Jan. 26 order, “but I did not know that they were going to hold bingo activities” on Feb. 16.

“I made the marginal note because at that time a lot of barangay leaders were asking for clarification if bingo was allowed. It was not meant to anticipate any of their activities,” Lim told The STAR in a phone interview.

He also slammed Moreno for saying that they were together at bingo games when they were allies. He said the only time he graced a bingo game was when he was invited by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

“They are both liars. That’s why they play good music together. Really, birds of the same feather flock together. They should show I have a direct order to arrest Isko and company, and not a general order because that was their allegation. I thought they had a bomb - but it was a dud,” he said.– With Jose Rodel Clapano