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A FORMER
official of the Philippine National Police accused of
graft in connection with the loss of 72 units of Heckler
and Koch MP5 cal. 9mm submachineguns eight years ago has
been cleared by the 5th Division of the Sandiganbayan.
A
one-page resolution dated June 16 written by Associate
Justice Napoleon Inoturan said former Deputy Director
General Reynaldo Varilla was charged simply on the basis
of his signature approving the release of the firearms,
but a review of the evidence convinced the court that he
signed only because the paper work submitted to him were
already accomplished.
The
charges of graft and illegal disposition of firearms
against Varilla was filed by the Office of the
Ombudsman. “No comment/objection having been interposed
thereto, the Manifestation with Omnibus Motion dated
March 17, 2008 filed by the prosecution is hereby
granted,” the court declared.
The same
motion recommended that a charge for illegal disposition
of firearms be filed instead against Brig. Gen.
(retired) Percival Subala, former commandant of the
Marine Corps; Col. Cesar dela Peña, then Marine
assistant chief-of-staff; Navy Capt. Teodoro Briones,
SPO4 Richard Zules, and private individuals Edelbert
Uybuco, Gerardo Vijandre, Manuel Ferdinand Trinidad, and
Michael Boregas.
“Nowhere
in the records could we find any evidence through which
we may deduce that Chief Supt. Varilla was a participant
to the planning, preparation, and perpetration of the
alleged disposition of firearms,” said Office of the
Special Prosecutor acting bureau directors Jesus Micael
and John Turalba.
The
prosecutors had claimed in the information the Marine
officers worked in conspiracy with executives of Trimark
Ventures Trading Corporation to simulate the Marines’
purchase which enabled them to secure a clearance to
take out the submachineguns from the PNP-Firearms and
Explosives Division (FED) then headed by Varilla.
However,
instead of delivering the guns to the Marines in Fort
Bonifacio, they were brought to the offices of Trimark
Ventures where they were “disposed to unauthorized
persons or entities.”
In
October 2005, a police operation against suspected
gunrunners in Subic, Zambales, netted five of the
“missing” MP5s.
They
said a review of the evidence showed dela Peña wrote FED
for authority to purchase the MP5s and for the issuance
of the gun licenses.
Prosecutors said Subala authorized Peña and Briones to
submit a purchase order to the PNP-FED allegedly despite
knowledge that the Marine Corps “had no budget nor the
intention to purchase any firearms.”
The rest
of the defendants were indicted on account of their
supposed presence during ballistics tests and during the
loading and transporting the guns from the FED warehouse
to the Trimark Ventures office.
Prosecutors recommended that bail for each accused be
set at P120,000. |
