DAVAO CITY, Philippines— The four-decade old Plaza Roman KTV bar closed its doors after the controversial “raid” by the operatives of he National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) XI on August 7, 2017.
Owner, Miguel Efren Aquino, was emotional when he told Newsline, “ayaw ko na! ayoko ng ganitong buhay, we operated legally, lahat ng employees may permit, lahat ng batas sinunod namin pero naging ganito ang buhay namin, ayoko ng gulo (I give up! I don’t want this kind of life, we operated legally, all our employees have permits, we followed all the laws but our lives turned out like this, I quit!”.)
The Aquinos are among the pioneers in Davao City in the KTV industry. They voluntarily closed the establishment due to the controversy.
Every nook of the establishment has this post and warning.
The business operated with all the necessary permits and tourism accreditation.
On Tuesday, August 15, the Aquinos were emotional recalling the ordeal.
Aquino’s cousin Wildredo Aquino Barangay Captain Leonardo Aquino told reporters: “sinabihan nya ako naghingi pa daw, sinabihan ko bakit ka nagbigay naka bail ka naman (He told me, they asked for money, I told him why did you give? you already posted bail).
When asked how much was given? Aquino added “Ang sabi ng pinsan ko P500,000 sino ba hindi magalit nyan, hindi ko akalain na ganyan ang gawin nila, sa tamang panahon nalang kami mag ano, wala man kaming problema sana. Ginanyan nila ang pinsan ko, apektado lahat, wala na! (My cousin said P500,000, who will not get mad? we never thought they will do that, we will…when the right time comes, We don’t have problem supposedly. They did it to my cousin, everyone is affected, nothing now.)
Aquino said the family is affected “Mahirap pala yon sa pamilya hindi din kami magkumpiansa, hindi sila taga-dito, hindi sana magkaganito kung hindi nila kami ginanyan, inipit nila kami (It is hard for our family, we will not take this lightly, they are not from here, it should not happened this way but they forced us).
Asked what was the P500,000 for? Aquino said “Pag-ibigay daw yon wala ng kaso, Areglo na yon, sabi nya sa akin (If we give it, there will be no case, It’s fixed!).
Efren Miguel Aquino told reporters he was able to go home night of August 8, without the judge signing the order of release.
Efren narrated the judge was already out and no one signed the order of release but “sabi ni Agent Glenn Damasing and Attorney Falcutila (Lawyers Glenn Damasing and Raleston Falcutila for clarity), dapat hindi ako makauwi, kasi wala na ang judge, nag-usap silang dalawa sa harapan ko sabi ni Atty. Falcutila pauwiin na natin si Efren kasi kawawa naman gusto na ito mag-uwi eh. Sabi naman ni Agent Damasing, dapat sa NBI custody pa ito e, o sige pauwiin na natin basta ikaw na ang bahala ha basta magpakita ka.”(Agent Glenn Damasing and Attoryney Falcutila talked and said I cannot not home because the judge was already out, they talked infront of me, Atty. Falcutila said, we allow Efren to go home, he is pitiful he wants to go home, then Agent Glenn said, he should still be under the NBI custody, okay we will allow him to go home but you take care, you show up).
Efren Aquino said the business which his father entrusted to him was smooth sailing until August 7, 2017 when the operatives of the NBI “raided” them and filed charges of human trafficking.
Aquino along with his floor manager was charged in court but was given temporary liberty after posting P200,000 each.
Aside from the P400,00 bailbond, Aquino in an affidavit claimed the NBI officials asked P500,000 “for the boys” which they gave through their lawyer Raleston Falcutila (not Ralph as ealier reported) on August 8 at about P6:30 p.m inside Holiday Spa along F. Torres St.
But NBI director Arnold Rosales in a press statement denied receiving money from Falcutila saying what he received was Korean Ginseng tea as birthday gift inside Holiday Spa.
Rosales also said someone in the NBI central office is trying to destroy him because of jealousy as the position was given to him.
The Presidential Management Staff (PMS) of the Office of the President has ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to investigate the case.-Editha Z. Caduaya/Newsline.ph
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