Thursday, July 03, 2008 Arrest of ex-general ordered
THE Sandiganbayan on Wednesday ordered the arrest of retired Brigadier General Percival Subala, former commandant of the Philippine Marines Corps (PMC), and seven others for their alleged involvement in the loss of high-powered firearms taken out from the Philippine National Police (PNP) warehouse in June 2000.
Besides Subala, also covered by the arrest order were Colonel Cesar dela Peña, Navy Captain Teodoro Briones and Senior Police Officer 4 Richard Zules and private individuals Edelbert Uybuco, Gerardo Vijandre, Manuel Ferdinand Trinidad and Michael Boregas.
The eight are facing a case for violation of Section 1 of Presidential Decree 1866 or illegal disposal of firearms, which is punishable by imprisonment of six years and a fine of P30,000, if proven.
Associate Justice Ma. Cristina Cortez Estrada, chairperson of the anti-graft court's Fifth Division, signed the warrant which was forwarded to the PNP, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and other law enforcement agencies.
The court has set the defendants' bail bond at P120,000 each.
The Office of the Ombudsman, which filed the case earlier this year, alleged that the accused conspired to simulate the PMC purchase of 72 pieces of Heckler & Koch MP5 caliber .9mm sub-machineguns from Trimark Ventures Trading Corp. on June 21, 2000, which enabled them to secure a clearance to take out the guns from the office of the PNP-Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Trimark Ventures, with Trinidad as its president, was an accredited firearm and ammunition supplier of both the PNP and the AFP.
Ombudsman prosecutors Jesus Micael and John Turalba said the transaction was initiated by dela Peña, when he, with the consent and approval of Subala, wrote a letter to the FED requesting authority to purchase the subject firearms in behalf of PMC.
They said dela Peña applied for the issuance of Firearms License for Juridical Entity for the firearms in the name of PMC, which were all approved by the FED on the basis of documents he submitted, including a purchase order prepared by Briones and approved by Subala, the application for firearms license, permit to transport firearms and ammunition, and the authority to withdraw firearms.
The prosecutors noted that on October 5, 2000, a task force led by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) raided a beach resort in Subic, Zambales and apprehended members of a gunrunning syndicate from whom lawmen seized several firearms including five HK-MP5s.
They said these firearms turned out to be part of the 72 units withdrawn from FED and licensed in the name of PMC. (Sunnex)
