The Parañaque Regional Trial Court in Metro Manila has thrown out on a technicality Kazuo Okada’s petition to regain control of the Okada Manila casino resort operator he had founded.

The former chairman and director of Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment, Inc. (TRLEI) had argued in the lawsuit filed last August that his June 2017 ouster had been done on the basis of “trumped-up charges,” and that the procedure to remove him from the board had not been in accordance with the Corporation Code.

Local news outlet The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Judge Noemi Balitaan had junked the complaint for being filed beyond 15 days of Okada’s removal, thus over the time limit for election protests, which the case was classified as.

“Records show that this case was only filed… on Aug. 29, 2018, or approximately one year and two months after the alleged removal of [Okada], in violation of the interim rules,” the ruling read.