9 UCPS personnel probed for missing 41 firearms
13 MISSING FIREARMS RECOVERED
LINGAYEN— The Pangasinan Police Provincial Office warned buyers of the missing 41 firearms from the Urdaneta City Police Station (UCPS) that they will be subjects of police operations if they do not return the firearms they acquired illegally, soon.
Acting Provincial Director, P/Sr. Superintendent Ronald Oliver Lee issued the warning even as eight former and present logistics officers of the (UCPS) and one civilian are being investigated in connection with the missing 41 firearms of various calibers at the armory of the police station.
The suspects being investigated, however, were not identified.
Lee said a civilian janitor at the UCPS already admitted during the initial stage of the investigation that he sold some of the firearms.
On the basis of his admission, 13 firearms that he sold to were recovered.
He said the 41 government issued firearms included Bereta and Glock pistols were discovered missing inside the supply room during an inventory of the Urdaneta Police on December 8. No caliber .45 or high-powered firearms, he added.
The Police Regional Office 1 ordered the investigation following the findings of the National Police Commission (Napolcom) regional office.
Earlier, a report from P/Supt. Jackie Candelario, deputy police regional director for operations, listed eight organic members of the police and one non-uniformed personnel.
The investigation is being conducted jointly by the Pangasinan Police Provincial Office (PPPO) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
The still unidentified police officers have been relieved and ordered to report to the PPPO where they are restricted to quarters till the resolution of the case.
Candelario said they could not yet establish when the firearms started to be missing in the city police station.
He said the closed circuit television camera footage they got from the police station will reveal who else may have taken out the firearms. “It was not done at the same time, but little by little,” he added.
He vowed no sacred cows in their investigation.
Meanwhile, Candelario said the eight policemen under probe have not been replaced but the Police Public Safety Company is ready to augment UCPS if necessary during operations.
He said those found to be behind the disappearance of the firearms will be punished to the full extent of the law. (Nora Dominguez/Leonardo Micua/Tita Roces)
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