Ex-Marine officers get 6 years for illegal disposition of firearms

The Sandiganbayan's Fifth Division on Wednesday convicted former Philippine Marines commandant Brigadier General Percival Subala, former Philippine Marines assistant chief of staff Colonel Cesar dela Peña, and four other individuals for illegal disposition of high-powered firearms in 2000.

In a 69-page ruling, Dela Peña, Subala, and private individuals Edelbert Uybuco, Gerardo Vijandre, Manuel Ferdinand Trinidad and Michael Boregas were all found “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” of Illegal Disposition of Firearms as defined under Section 1 of Presidential Decree 1866.

They were sentenced to a minimum of four years and two months to a maximum of six years and eight months of imprisonment. They were also ordered to each pay a fine of P30,000.

“The elaborate and illegal scheme participated in by accused Dela Peña, Subala, Trinidad, Boregas Uybuco and Vijandre would probably have gone unnoticed if not for the operation conducted by the CIDG which resulted in the chance recovery of five of the 72 firearms which were about to be loaded into pump boats in Zambales,” the resolution penned by Fifth Division chairman Associate Justice Roland Jurado read.

The resolution was concurred by Associate Justices Elexander Gesmundo and Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta.

Meanwhile, a co-accused in the case, former Philippine Navy captain Teodoro Briones, was acquitted for the prosecution’s failure to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The court ordered the lifting of the Hold Departure Order it earlier issued against Briones. The surety bond that Briones earlier posted was also ordered to be returned to him.

The case against another co-accused, former Police Office 4 Richard Zules, meanwhile, was ordered indefinitely archived as he remains at large. The court ordered the issuance of another warrant of arrest against him to order the authorities to continue their man-hunt operations.

Based on the information of the case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2007, the accused in June 2000 conspired to illegally disposed 72 units of cal. 9mm submachine guns “by making it appear that the Philippine Marines Corps. purchased the said firearms from Trimark Ventures Trading Corporation."

The Ombudsman said the high-powered guns, which were supposed to be delivered to the Philippine Marine Corps. Headquarters at Fort Bonifacio in Makati City, never really reached its destination but was in fact delivered to the office of Trimark at Windsor Towers Condominium, Legaspi Village in Makati.

The Ombudsman said the supposed purchased firearms, which were then stored at the PNP Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) armory located inside the PNP Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, were released by the power of a Firearms License for Juridical Entity under the name of the Philippine Marines Corps as well as a purchase order approved by Subala.

“[T]he application for firearms license, Permit to Transport Firearms and Ammunition and the Authority to Withdraw Firearms, all in the name of the Philippine Marines Corps., were approved by the Firearms and Explosives Division,” the case information read.

“And once in possession of the said documents and on the basis thereof, accused Michael Boregas, with the consent of accused Manuel Ferdinand Trinidad, withdrew the aforesaid firearms from the Firearms and Explosives Division…which firearms were subsequently disposed to unauthorized persons or entities,” the charge sheet added.

The filing of the case stemmed from the recovery of five MP5 sub-machineguns among 96 assorted short firearms and rifles seized from a Taiwanese-led gunrunning syndicate on October 5, 2000 in Subic, Zambales.

Investigators later traced the serial numbers of the five MP5s to the supposed delivery of 72 units to the Philippine Marines supposedly purchased from Trimark.

“While such scheme is apparently and unfortunately not an isolated one, what is important for Our purposes is that this particular incident has been properly investigated and those responsible held to account for the crime committed,” the Fifth Division said in its ruling. —ALG/RSJ, GMA News