AGO files 226 charges vs club owners

Former Attorney General Robert T. Torres yesterday vowed to vigorously defend his client, night club owner David Atalig, on charges that he and his wife have been employing minors and forcing them to dance naked.

During the arraignment yesterday before Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert C. Naraja, David Atalig and Stardust Club pleaded not guilty to the information charging him and co-defendants with 226 counts of criminal violations.

David Atalig’s wife, Corazon Atalig, and Star Corp., which owns Starlite Club, through their counsel Perry B. Inos, pleaded innocent of the charges.

Corazon’s Atalig’s sister, Nelda Rolloda, through attorney Richard W. Pierce, also pleaded not guilty.

The arraignment for Corazon Atalig’s other sister, Prescilla Rolloda, was reset to another date.

Torres, in statement to the media, said the Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Labor have raised 226 counts of criminal violations against his client.

“Whether it is one count or 500 counts, Mr. Atalig will hold them to their burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt as to each and every count and will most vigorously defend on each and every count.”

“We believe that at the end of the day, justice will prevail and that David Atalig and his wife Corazon will leave this case with the same presumption of innocence that they have entered our courtroom today, Law Day,” Torres pointed out.

The lawyer said that the Atalig couple are looking forward to the due process of law and the rule of law in the Commonwealth.

“This case will be tried in a court of law and not the court of public opinion,” Torres said.

“Your Attorney General’s Office, in its eagerness to please associates and offices in Washington D.C., has elected to comment on the case, through the Director of Labor; the Federal Ombudsman’s Office; and the Interior Department’s OIA Representative,” he said.

“They would have these men themselves be the judge, jury, and executioners. I respectfully object,” he said.

Torres said they are looking forward to a fair-minded jury in the Commonwealth, not in Washington D.C., being the fact-finders based on the rule of law and on objective evidence.

“Our friend in Washington D.C. is the Judiciary Branch and in the Constitution: where the rule of law stands firm and the scales of justice are balanced,” he added.

Authorities arrested the Atalig couple last month for allegedly employing minor girls and forcing them to dance naked and do other lewd things. Corazon Atalig’s two sisters were also arrested.

The government alleged that the nightclubs hired minor girls from the Philippines using different names and forged birth certificates.

The defendants allegedly locked up the victims by not allowing them to go out without escorts.

Nine employees of Stardust and Star Light night clubs recently appealed to Labor to allow them to continue working with the same nightclubs even as they defended their employers from allegations they were employing minor girls and forcing them to dance naked.