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Thursday, April 27, 2006
NBI nabs 2 men linked to making fake IDs, papers
Armed operatives yesterday arrested two men believed to be part of a syndicate making and selling fake National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearances and police security guard licenses.
Tension ran high during the entrapment, as one of the two suspects, Vicente Calderon Jr., a security guard, attempted to draw his .38 service revolver on lawyer Ernesto Macabare as he announced the arrest.
Macabare, the NBI 7 head agent and executive officer, had to tackle the security guard from behind, as the other agents, with guns also drawn, closed in and took the guard into custody.
“Nanggawas ang one million ka pistola (A million guns were drawn),” exclaimed a reporter who was unfortunately near the crime scene while on her way to cover the week’s Cebu City Council session.
Calderon, a security guard of the E & R Security Agency assigned to Primex Trade Sales, was arrested together with one Mario Obradas, a member of the Barangay Basak-San Nicolas lupon ng tagapamayapa (mediation body), whom Calderon referred to as “Major.”
Obradas delivered the fake NBI certificate to Calderon who then gave it to an undercover agent. The agent had posed as another security guard in need of clearance to renew his license for employment with a security agency.
The two couldn’t have picked a worse time to get arrested.
Lawyer Victor Bessat, the NBI 7 deputy director for regional operations who is based in Manila, dropped by Cebu City for a surprise visit yesterday and arrived to an office busy getting fingerprints off the two.
When told that the two were being charged with faking documents, including NBI clearances, he exclaimed: “This is a very serious offense.”
“The clearances are commonly used in government transactions. If you aren’t familiar with the real document, recognize the special paper we use to secure the form, you will be misled,” Bessat said.
When interviewed at the NBI headquarters, Obradas said the documents come from one SPO4 Versoza who allegedly had contacts inside the PNP Firearms Explosives Security Agencies and Guards Supervisory Section (Fesagss).
Lawyer Rennan Oliva, the agent on the case said, the bureau is now coordinating with PNP Regional Office 7 Fesagss chief, Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, in verifying the allegation.
The operation took weeks in the making and began when the agents, early last week, came across some fake NBI clearances.
Oliva said they sent agents out on the streets to gather more information and learned that the fake clearances were used to get security guard licenses from the Fesagss or as supporting papers for similarly falsified copies of the license.
Based on the information, the clearance came from Calderon who supposedly got them from a certain “major.”
Oliva said an agent, Rey Villordon, was then asked to go undercover as a security guard assigned to a Chinese restaurant and approach Calderon at Primex, secure a clearance, and renew his security guard license.
This set the trap for the arrest. (KNR)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 27, 2006 issue)
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