By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES
BANGUED, Abra.–Firearms confiscated from private armed groups (PAGs) were stolen from the evidence room of the Regional Trial Court Branch 2 located at the Don Quintin Paredes Hall of Justice here.
Police confirmed that at least two of the firearms belonged to a member of the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA).
Presiding Judge Corpus Christi Alzate called up the Bangued police Wednesday morning to report that the evidence room was “ransacked” between midnight of April 6 and dawn of April 7.
According to Abra police director Senior Superintendent Ernesto Gaab, Alzate certified that the stolen firearms include one M-14 and one M-1 garand rifle related to the case of Danny Lanag, and one M-79 grenade launcher related to the case of Dominic Sungayen.Police reports say Lanag is a member of the CPLA and a bodyguard of CPLA Supremo Mailed Molina who is running for congressman of Abra’s lone district.
When reached for confirmation, however, Molina said he was “on leave” and only had police bodyguards. He also said he knew a “Danny” but that his family name was not Lanag.
A news release in the Armed Forces of the Philippines website dated April 16, 2004 said elements of the Philippine Army and the PNP arrested Lanag along with two companions carrying “one M14 rifle with ammunitions, two (2) Garand rifles, two (2) shotguns and one (1) hand grenade” in Tineg, Abra.
But Bangued police said the arrest actually took place in Peñarrubia town where Molina’s farm is located.
The ransacking of the evidence room, which was reported as a “robbery,” is still under investigation.
“We are still in the process of getting statements from the staff and guards to determine if this is robbery or simple theft,” Gaab said.
Alzate refused to give further comments over the phone. In a text message, his wife, reelectionist Bangued councilor Debbie Alzate, said the judge will only give a statement in a “personal” interview.
She is running under administration LAKAS-KAMPI and is a partymate of reelectionist Bangued Mayor Dominic Valera.
The ransacking of the evidence room comes just days before Chief Justice Reynato Puno visits Abra. Puno is arriving on April 16 to bring the Enhanced Justice on Wheels (EJOW), a big bus that functions as a mobile court.
The province will be Puno’s last stop for the EJOW program before he retires on May 17.
The Justice on Wheels Project aims to “to bring justice closer to the people or to provide people in remote areas adequate and inexpensive access to justice.”