Atong Ang now employed as Cavite ‘gaming’ company consultant

MANILA, Philippines - Charlie "Atong" Ang, a co-accused in the plunder case filed against deposed President Joseph Estrada, has been hired as a consultant for a local gaming company operating in Cavite. Ang - who is serving the second half of his two-year probation after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of corruption of public officials to evade prosecution on a capital offense - through his lawyer Ruth Castelo informed the Sandiganbayan in a manifestation dated July 3 that he will start his job as the "lead consultant" for Lucky Tytanium Corp. on July 15. Lucky Tytanium has been granted a franchise by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to operate Small Town Lottery (STL) outlets in Cavite. Ang's employment as head consultant reportedly had the conformity of Cavite provincial governor Ireneo Maliksi, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and his probation officer, Ceres Anonuevo. "Accused believes that this Honorable Court will be pleased to know that he will soon be gainfully employed, and that he would finally be able to reverse his sorry situation where it his family supporting him, instead of vice versa," Ang said in his manifestation. Ang worked as a gaming consultant of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) under the Estrada administration and was implicated in the illegal diversion of P130 million tobacco excise tax funds to Estrada. The Sandiganbayan approved Ang's plea bargain and placed him under probation on March 14, 2007 after he admitted that he personally delivered P105 million to Estrada's residence at No. 1 Polk Street, North Greenhills, San Juan after skimming P25 million for himself. As a condition of his plea bargain, he was made to reimburse the entire P25 million to the government. Likewise the court set several other conditions for Ang's probation including a prohibition against "engaging in any form of gambling activities" and travel restriction outside the jurisdiction of the Quezon City Parole and Probation Office for longer than 30 days without prior clearance. Ang was also warned against "associating with persons of questionable character" and commission of any other offense during the two-year period and was required to plant "timber or hardwood trees like narra, mahogany, yakal, molave, and the like" either at the Quezon City Memorial Circle or at the La Mesa Dam Watershed every two months. - GMANews.TV