Manila, March 16 -- The panel of prosecutors of the Department of Justice (DOJ) has turned down the request of the Villars to send their insider trading and stock manipulation complaints back to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the determination of probable cause.

During the preliminary investigation on the case on Monday, Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Peter Ong said that if the Villar Land's defense lawyers insist on returning the complaints to the SEC, the prosecution panel will treat them as counter-affidavits.

Ong said the proceedings in the regulatory body, including a final finding of probable cause, had not been completed.

He added that no particular form is required in finding probable cause, saying the decisio...