Glan Cop dismyaed over fiscal's decision

GLAN, Sarangani (May 3, 2010) - Municipal police chief P/Insp. Jude del Carmen was upset over the decision of Prosecutor I Kayugenn Mato Kuda Jr. who ordered the release of five suspects charged with Illegal Possession of Firearms before the Prosecutor’s Office on April 27.

Based on the Release Order of Kuda dated April 29, del Carmen released the five suspects from Glan PNP detention cell at around 5 p.m. of April 30, the day the Order was delivered to his office.

In a phone interview, del Carmen questioned why the Release Order was delivered to his office in the afternoon of April 30 when in fact, the document was dated April 29.

“It seems that (the fiscal) is trying to squeeze us. It seems that they handcuffed us when they issued the Release Order so we could not answer it and file a Motion for Reconsideration because it is Friday,” del Carmen said.

“I had no choice, but release the suspects,” he said.But del Carmen was quick to add that he will not surrender in the battle by filing a Motion for Reconsideration as soon as possible.

“I was really upset with the decision of the fiscal. It was stated in the Release Order that we had an illegal arrest, but we had complete evidence. We followed the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the PNP, I myself called for witnesses so they will know that the firearms were not planted,” the police official said.

Del Carmen asserted it is possible that Prosecutor Kuda was persuaded by the speculation of Manny Pacquiao’s legal counsel that the firearms recovered inside the vans were only planted. One of the vans was registered under the name of Manny’s wife Jinkee Pacquiao.

“We had a lot of witnesses who can testify that the firearms were not planted. Our witnesses have affidavits. Even one of the team leaders of Manny Pacquiao (in postering) named Rene Bracero was there during the search operation,” del Carmen said.

Del Carmen, however, admitted that during the search operation, he was tried to convince by a person who introduced himself as Sarangani congressional bet Manny Pacquiao not to pursue with the inspection of the two Toyota Hi-Ace vans, which were later discovered to have firearms and which was used by the suspected gun-for-hire men tagged in the alleged ambush try of outgoing Glan Mayor Enrique “Yoyong” Yap.

Del Carmen said before the police opened and inspected the two vans with plate numbers MDM-577 and RBR-709, a person who claimed to be Manny Pacquiao called up a People’s Champ Movement (PCM) team leader, who was one of the witnesses in the recovery of the firearms seized inside the vans.

“Actually, he did not call in my cellphone. He called up Rene Bracero, one of PCM’s team leaders in postering, who was there as a witness during the inspection. He (Bracero) passed his cellphone to me and said, “Gusto makipag-usap sayo ni Sir Manny Pacquiao.”

When I answered the phone, the man on the line said, “pag-usapan na lang natin” but I told him that I could not settle the incident with him, there are a lot of witnesses and it was already known to the mayor (Yap). The voice in the next line was obviously worried that his name might be dragged in the incident,” he asserted.

When queried how firm is the decision of the police officer not to agree with what “Manny” wanted to happen, del Carmen said. “I am not biased. I am just standing with what is the truth.”

It was learned that two weeks before the incident, police already monitored that there are unidentified persons with firearms using the vans.

“Based on our monitoring, may mga sumasakay sa mga vans na naka-uniform ng camouflage, meron pang nakita na naka-uniform ng police two weeks before the incident happened,” del Carmen said.

On the other hand, he disclosed that they are conducting background check of the suspects, especially Jimmy Mier, who admitted to be the owner of the armalite rifle.

“We are conducting background check sa mga suspects and we found out na itong si Jimmy Mier, na taga-Zamboanga del Sur, is an alleged amateur gun-for-hire sa kanilang lugar,” he said.

“Itong si Mier, allegedly, na-link din daw sa Kuratong Baleleng, pero wala pa kaming enough evidence,” he added.

Kuratong Baleleng was an organized crime syndicate that was once an anti-communist vigilante group. The group was engaged in robbery/hold-up, illegal drugs, murder for hire, and other crimes. ###