NBI-7 exec, nine operatives charged over e-sabong raid
Criminal and administrative complaints have been filed before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas against the operatives of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI-7), led by regional director Rennan Augustus Oliva, for alleged abuse in the service of search warrant, grave misconduct and robbery.
The complaint was filed by Mary Cris Cabalquinto, cashier of Amenic N’ Calajoan Cockpit, which the NBI-7 operatives raided in September last year for alleged illegal e-sabong operations, through lawyer Louie Arma.
Arma, who claimed to be the spokesperson of the complainant, said the NBI-7 operatives committed an “abuse in the service of search warrant” for searching areas in the cockpit arena that were not specified in the warrant issued by the court.
He also accused the members of the raiding team of robbery for allegedly not reporting the exact amount recovered during the raid. According to Arma, the raiding team seized a total of P8.3 million but only declared P2.5 million in the inventory. He claimed to have CCTV footage to support his allegations.
"Ang mga CCTV nato nga nakuhaan sa source sa gi-attach nato nga CCTV sa complaint ang katong mga conceal CCTVs kay kanang entity that's very high technology when it comes to CCTV cameras you will never suspect nga naay mga CCTV kay very kanang puro miniature nga CCTV ang gipanggamit unya the CCTV never lies," Arma told reporters.
Aside from Oliva, also named respondents were supervising agents Wenceslao Galindez and Donaver Inesin, agents Niño Rodriguez, Contessa Lastimoso, Agapito Gierran and Beinvenido Panacean, administrative aide Audie Ybiernas, job order workers Erman Mier and Mark Dominique Nadela. Also included was retired police officer Michael Castro.
Oliva refused to comment on the allegations saying he does not want to dignify a “harassment complaint.”
The case stemmed from a raid conducted by NBI-7 operatives at a cockpit in Barangay Calajoan, Minglanilla, Cebu on September 16, 2022 where an alleged e-sabong operation was carried out.
The raid, which was based on a search warrant issued by Judge Grace Veloso of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) against Amenic N’ Calajoanon Cockpit, resulted in the arrest of 39 individuals, including the two alleged operators identified as Carlos Uy Gothong lll a.ka. “Junjun Gothong” and Sergio Lu a.k.a. “Sergio Ong, Dongdong Ong.”
The individuals arrested are now facing charges for violation of Section 1 of Presidential Decree 1602 in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and Presidential Decree 499 or the Cockfighting Law of 1974.