The suspects in the abduction of a Chinese and two South Korean nationals who allegedly failed to pay their casino debts on Wednesday asked the Department of Justice to dismiss the charges against them.
In his counter-affidavit, Ernesto Marella denied that he and the other respondents held Chinese national Liu Xia and South Koreans Yeum Sunki and Park Pan Ho against their will, saying the three “voluntarily agreed to stay’ with them until they could settle their debts.
Marella claimed good faith on his part when he suggested to the three to stay at his residence in Guiguinto, Bulacan after they failed to pay their debts.
Marella added that he did not even ask them to pay for their stay in his residence.
“My purpose was not to illegally detain them as alleged but to provide them board and lodging as they have lost everything to gambling,” he said in a counter-affidavit.
He added that he allowed them to stay while they were working on how to settle their obligations.
If not for this, the complainants could have ended in a more dire situation since they have no money to pay for their stay in hotels, the respondent pointed out.
Marella also questioned the complainant’s tale, saying that how could there be an abduction when “”they went with him to his house without any resistance, force or struggle.”
“If ever there was motive in the filing of kidnapping for ransom and serious illegal detention charges against the respondent, it was only to use or act as a leverage against the debt claims,’ he explained.
Marella’s counter-affidavit was adopted by his co-respondents Jomar Dela Pena, Alexander Roxas, Ferdie Dionisio and Raymond De Guzman.
It will be recalled that operatives of the Philippine National Police-Anti-Kidnapping Group rescued the victims last week following a tip from the South Korean Embassy in Manila.
Xia was allegedly abducted last September 15 while Park was abducted last October 12.
The other Korean national was kidnapped last October 16.
Yeum was kidnapped at the Pan Pacific Hotel and Casino in Malate, Manila and taken to the Guiguinto safehouse.
Authorities said the respondents gave loans to the victims who are mostly casino players and abduct or held them against them will if they refused or cannot settle their financial obligations.
Pan and Yeum reportedly borrowed P600, 000 each from Marella, while Xia borrowed P1 million from a Chinese national who was identified only through his alias.
The PNP-AKG said the casino players usually loan from P600, 000 to P800, 000 to finance their gambling activities but the syndicates would then ask for a million pesos from their respective families.