PNP chief ordered probe on missing firearms

MANILA, Philippines - No less than Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Alan Purisima ordered the investigation of police officials involved in the missing AK-47 rifles that were allegedly sold to the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, an official said yesterday.

“It (probe) had the blessing of PNP chief. The police investigators could not act on the mess without orders from somebody from the top, including the press briefing conducted by (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group or CIDG chief Director Benjamin) Magalong that 19 persons would be held accountable for the missing rifles, including five generals,” said a PNP official who asked not to be named said.

President Aquino had ordered an investigation into the case last January.

Magalong said all 1,004 AK-47s landed in the hands of the NPA in a sale brokered by a certain Isidro Lozada.

 â€œIt’s a calculated and well-oiled black propaganda. Is this meant to benefit one group and displace another?  The sinister motives are palpable,” the PNP official said.

The police official said the missing firearms issue “has not only politicized the police institution but also created fragments in an otherwise solid and united community of law enforcers.” 

Premature announcement

During a hearing last week of the House committee on public order and safety, Cebu Rep. Gwen Garcia admonished Magalong for prematurely announcing the names of those who would be charged.

The PNP has since backpedaled on this issue, with PNP public information office director Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac saying Magalong’s statement was premature since Lozada has yet to sign his statement.

Magalong refused to retract his statement and said it was the PNP chief who initiated the investigation. The CIDG chief has been under fire for his supposedly reckless conclusion that the rifles were sold to the communist rebels.

Garcia said Magalong’s premature identification of the PNP officials seemed a “deliberate attempt” to preempt the ongoing House inquiry.

“There seems to be a deliberate attempt either to lead this committee towards the conclusions which Magalong’s own investigation wishes to impose upon us or to hide other facets of an incomplete truth,” she said.

Garcia said news about the missing rifles came out right after Magalong assured the House that the CIDG probe had yet to be concluded.

“We have not pointed fingers yet because we were assured that the CIDG investigation is still ongoing. And yet, to my surprise, less than 24 hours after our hearing, it came out in the tri-media – newspapers, radio and TV – that there will be five generals who will be charged as regards to the disappearance of 1,004 AK-47s. Where does that lead this committee and this hearing? It ties our hands,” she said.

Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffery Ferrer also said he was “surprised” by Magalong’s statements.

Committee vice chairman Rep. Samuel Pagdilao said Magalong should exercise prudence on handling and discussing the CIDG investigation.

“Not only that you are being unfair to certain people but you also stand the risk of being embarrassed once you filed a case and it is not accepted by the fiscal or Ombudsman. That means you’re back to square one as far as your investigation is concerned,” added Pagdilao, a former CIDG director.