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Sunday, March 19, 2006
Cops, fiscal hit for suspects’ release
The immediate release of four suspected kidnappers who were arrested at Mactan airport last March 5 should teach the authorities at least one lesson in the fight against kidnapping: Communicate better.
Anti-kidnapping crusader Teresita Ang-See yesterday pointed out the lapses committed by the authorities, not only the police but the prosecutors as well, in handling the case of the suspected kidnap-for-ransom gang members.
Brothers Jessie, 34, and Ronald Pepino, 24, Richard Orayan, 31, and Crisologo Puzon, 33, were released on March 7 after posting P10,000 bail each for charges of usurpation of authority.
At that time, police investigators were still verifying information that the four were members of a kidnapping gang.
The confirmation came later, after the police got the information from See. But by then, it was too late.
“I was furious when I found out that they were released. There was a lapse in the local police, they have to admit that and they have to address that.... How come the fiscal just released them so fast? How come the fiscal, knowing that an Armalite (rifle) was found in the car, knowing that airport is a very, very critical place, decided to charge them only with usurpation?” See said.
The Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office earlier said the illegal possession of firearms was “merely incidental” to the usurpation of authority case.
The Pepinos and Orayan were found with an M-16 rifle, two .45 pistols, five magazines for a .45 pistol, two magazines for M-16 rifle, 47 pieces of live ammunition for .45 pistol and 60 pieces of live ammunition for M-16.
The Pepinos also had fake military and police identification cards, which they used to pass through airport security.
Ronald was arrested at the arrival area when airport policemen found out he wasn’t an agent of the Military Intelligence Group. His brother Jessie and Orayan, on board a car, tried to rescue him but were also arrested.
Puzon was arrested in the evening of March 5 when he went to the Police Center for Aviation Security office, seeking the release of the three suspects. He also used a fake identification card.
But Assistant Lapu-Lapu City Geronima Prosecutor Baring, with the approval of City Prosecutor Evange-line Gicale, rejected the case for illegal possession of firearms.
In explaining her decision, Baring said Republic Act 8294 states that an illegal possession of firearms charge shall be filed only when “no other crime was committed by the person arrested.”
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. has asked the City Prosecutor’s Office to hand in the records of the case and to explain what happened.
See, the founding president of Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran and the founding chairperson of the Movement for Restoration on Peace and Order, was in Cebu City as one of the resource speakers in a forum on community security awareness and action on kidnap-for-ransom held yesterday morning at the Casino Español de Cebu.
The forum was also attended by Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president Robert Go, Police Deputy Regional Director for Administration Ronald Roderos, Police Deputy Regional Director for Operations Lani-o Nerez and Senior Supt. Tom Bañes, deputy director for operations of Presidential Anti-Crime Emergency Response (Pacer), and members of the CCCI.
See, however, clarified that the forum was already scheduled and was not an offshoot of the reported kidnapping of a Manila-based businessman in Cebu.
The payoff was reportedly foiled because of the arrest of the four suspects.
During a press conference, See said the local police should have immediately conducted background checks on the arrested suspects.
“People who are so brazen and so daring to enter an airport carrying firearms and fake IDs (identification cards) are not simple fly-by-night criminals. One agency that they failed to contact is the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), which was responsible for the earlier arrest of the Pepinos in Manila,” she said.
See, however, hopes that instead of blaming each other, the law enforcement agencies need to continue the manhunt and arrest the suspects again.
Bañes, Nerez and Roderos, however, said coordination was made with the Pacer and the directorate for investigation and detective management (DIDM) in Camp Crame right after the arrest of the four suspects.
Nerez, though, said they were “overtaken by the time” so the four men were released.
The Pacer-Manila, in particular, Bañes said, after being informed by its counterpart in Central Visayas, immediately made a background check.
After failing to get information from their case files, they inquired from See for confirmation in the evening of March 7.
See said the Pepino brothers—Jerry, Jessie and Reynaldo-had a kidnapping case in 1997 and another one in 1998 and were convicted in absentia and sentenced to death.
During the forum, Go announced that the business sector and the police agreed to come up with a hotline for easy coordination when incidents occur such as kidnapping.
“This is one way to keep Cebu as the best place to live in. We don’t want that to be besmirched and we don’t want to be blackened by any untoward events,” Go said. (JST)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (March 19, 2006 issue)
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