By Priam Nepomuceno- PNA
MANILA — Stiff penalties will be meted to personnel found guilty of weapons and ammunition pilferage involving military stocks, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Benjamin Madrigal said Tuesday.
“(If any military people are found involved), yung (the) full force of the law, apply the full force of the law para sa mga ito (to these individuals), we are professionalizing the Armed Forces, and definitely itong mga ito (these people) have no place in the ranks of the Armed Forces kung meron (man) (if there are any),” he added in an interview with reporters.
Madrigal said that he has already talked to Philippine Army head Lt. Gen. Macairog S. Alberto and the Army logistics people regarding the weapons and ammunition with alleged AFP markings, which were seized by police during an operation in Valenzuela City last Sunday.
Also arrested in the entrapment operation were Edgardo and Rosemarie Medel.
In the same operation, authorities seized two assault rifles, a handgun and 12,893 rounds of live ammunition for an M-60 light machine gun and an M-16 automatic rifle.
“I had it investigated. actually (I have) talked also with the Commanding General of the Army, tapos Army logistics people, yung, definitely yung (the) firearms are not part of our inventory, ‘yung (the) ammo na tinitingnan namin (that we are looking at) based dun sa initial (probe), sabi nga (as I have said) at first glance, makikita mo na yung mga ammo boxes na, pag nag-distribute kami ng bala (you will see that when we distribute ammo boxes, when we distribute bullets), (our) boxes (are colored) olive drab. Ito, either ipini-prepare before na lagyan siya o talagang nakahiwalay ito (This one, either it is being prepared to be filled up or it is really separated), we are investigating that. Kaya ang (tinitingnan) natin, mga (This is why we are looking at) lot numbers. Meron na kaming (We already have) initial (information), hindi lang natin mai-divulge kasi hinahabol natin, tinitingnan natin yung (information), para mahuli natin (We just can’t divulge it because we have to look closely at the information so we can catch the culprits),” the AFP chief added.
AFP public affairs office chief Col. Noel Detoyato earlier said the markings on the seized ammunition boxes will also play a key role in the ongoing investigation.
He also assured the implementation of strict handling and control of military ammunition, as well as the conduct of a periodic inventory and wall-to-wall counting to account for each and every cartridge.
