PNP: Officials might not be charged over 1,000 rifles that ended up in NPA hands

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday retracted an earlier statement that five of top officials and 14 other officers will face charges for the illegal licensing of more than a thousand AK-47 and M-16 Armalite rifles that ended up in the hands of members of the New People's Army (NPA).

In an interview aired on GMA News' “24 Oras” aired Monday, PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac said the PNP's investigation on the case is still ongoing, and that the PNP is not yet 100 percent sure that the five officials and police officers had a hand in the licensing of the firearms.



“Puwedeng hindi sila kasama, puwedeng kasama. There will still be changes, kasi nga po napaaga ang pagsisiwalat,” Sindac said.

On Thursday, PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Director Benjamin Magalong said the PNP is set to file administrative charges at the Office of the Ombudsman against 19 of its officers, five of whom are senior officials, because the licensing of the firearms went through their offices.

The five senior police officers identified by Magalong were Chief Supt. Regino Catiis, Chief Supt. Raul Petrasanta, retired chief supt. Tomas Rentoy III, and Police Directors Gil Meneses and Napoleon Estilles, who are both under non-duty status in preparation of their mandatory retirement at age 56.

In the Philippine National Police, a director is the equivalent rank of a major general in the military.

The five officials had earlier denied the allegation, “24 Oras” reported.

Sindac said that though the registration of the firearms was done under the PNP, it is not yet proven that there were irregularities commited in the registration procedures.

He also made clear that the firearms did not come from the PNP armory and that no official of the PNP was involved in selling the firearms.

“Hindi ito government firearms. Hindi PNP ang nagbenta ng firearms. Ang nagbenta, yung supplier facilitated by the buyer,” Sindac said.

The PNP had earlier identified a certain Isidro Lozada, owner of a security agency in Caraga as the one who facilitated the registration of the firearms with the PNP as well as the one who delivered the firearms to the NPA.

The Philippine Army's 401st Infantry Brigade recovered 44 of the missing AK-47 rifles in recent encounters with NPA rebels in the Caraga region and in Western Mindanao.

Of the 44 AK-47 rifles that the military turned over to the PNP last week, five were confirmed as being among the 1004 missing firearms.

The origin of the other recovered firearms have yet to be determined as their serial numbers have been removed. — Elizabeth Marcelo/JDS, GMA News