THE six Chinese nationals, accused of distributing fake cigarettes in Davao City, will be arraigned on November 10, Friday, at the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 10.
Presiding Judge Retrina Fuentes of the RTC Branch 10 scheduled the arraignment on November 10 around 8:30 a.m. instead on September 15, considering the accused are Chinese nationals.
Yuequn Shi, owner of a cigarette warehouse in Buhangin, is charged with five counts of trademark infringement, five counts of unfair competition, five counts false designation of origin, false description, and intellectual property code.
His relatives Chun Qun, Mei Qun, Jian Qun, Tian Pei and Lian Zai, all surnamed Shi, were also charged with six counts of trademark infringement, six counts of unfair competition and six counts of false designation of origin and false description.
The accused are not familiar with the English and Filipino languages, thus, the defense counsel has to secure Chinese interpreter for them.
The six accused were arrested by the members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Davao last July 21, following the 48 search wrrants issued by the same court on several warehouses here.
Authorities conducted the raid following the complaint of the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corporation Inc. on the proliferation of counterfeit cigarette products in the local market - Marlboro, More, Fortune, Mark, among others.