Former basketball player, 4 others face gambling raps in Bacolod

Maui Huelar, a former basketball player, and four other persons were slapped with illegal gambling charges after they were allegedly caught engaging in jai-alai operations in Bacolod City over the weekend. The police lodged charges against former Metropolitan Basketball Association player Maui Huelar and four others before the city prosecutor's office on Tuesday, the news site Visayan Daily Star reported. Huelar, who was a point guard in the MBA team Negros Slashers, claimed that he was not involved in jai-alai and that he was willing to face all the charges against him. Huelar also emphasized he was not arrested and that he was only invited to Police Station 1 for questioning. He added that this may be a form of harassment. Those who were charged along with Huelar were Rocel Javier, 38; Nicolas and Dodoy Cuadra; and Richard Tacleon. Bacolod City Police Office Director Senior Superintendent Celestino Guara said the five persons were caught at about 11:30 p.m. on Saturday while they were transmitting tally sheets through a fax machine of the O’ Hotel at San Sebastian Street in Bacolod City. A team from the city police's vice control section led by Senior Police Officer 1 George Bejemino seized bundles of tally sheets from the five persons. The team also seized and impounded a Honda Bravo 100M motorcycle and Huelar’s Honda CR-V. Lawyer Pedro Diamante, however, said they will file qualified theft charges against the policemen – Bejemino and his companions – for allegedly taking the motorcycle owned by a certain Ricardo Danisa, which one of the suspects, Tacleon, was driving at the time. Diamante was charged for obstruction of justice because he allegedly intervened and helped Huelar, Tacleon, and the Cuadras escape. Only Javier remained at the police station. Diamante said the obstruction of justice charges were baseless because Huelar and his companions were not arrested in the first place. Diamante said the suspects were only invited for questioning. Huelar also said he did not escape and even waited for the police to accomplish the necessary procedures for two hours. Huelar also appealed to the policemen to release his vehicle. However, the police director, Guara, said Huelar had been under surveillance for a week because of a tip they received that he was allegedly a maintainer and operator of jai-alai in Bacolod. However, Huelar insisted this was not true and he challenged the policemen to prove their claims. Guara told Huelar that his vehicle would not be released because it was allegedly used to transport jai-alai paraphernalia. City Prosecutor Armando Abanado has ordered the release of Javier, saying the case will be subject to regular preliminary investigation. Abanado also gave the other respondents 15 days to file their counter charges. –VVP, GMANews.TV