CA stops suspension of police officer over missing AK-47s

MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals (CA) has stopped the suspension of a police officer who was involved in the case of the missing 1,004 AK-47 rifles in the Philippine National Police (PNP).

In a resolution dated January 12 but was released to the media just recently, the CA’s Tenth Division issued a 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) on the
preventive suspension slapped by the Office of the Ombudsman against Police Chief Superintendent Regino Catiis.

Catiis, the acting executive officer of the PNP Directorate for Comptrollership and formerly chief of the Firearms and Explosives Office licensing division, is among the retired and incumbent police generals who are facing criminal and administrative charges before the Ombudsman due to the missing firearms.

The court said “it seems that [Catiis] has a clear legal right that was violated and thus deserves to be urgently protected.”

The petitioner had cited that the applications for gun licenses were filed weeks after he had been transferred to another division, and his supposed signatures bore different strokes.

An earlier investigation by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) revealed the firearms had ended up in the hands of the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

In stopping the suspension order, CA said Catiis was able to pay the P100,000 bond, and he was given the condition the he “will pay all damages which the respondents may suffer by reason of the TRO if this Court should finally decide that the petitioner is not entitled thereto.”

Catiis served as chief of the PNP Licensing Division of the Firearms and Explosives Division From October 2010 to February 2012 before he was transferred to the Directorate for Controllership.

In 2013, it was found that some 1,004 AK-47s supposedly bought by mining firms and security agencies could not be accounted for. The PNP announced in June 2014 that it was eyeing the filing of charges against at least 19 PNP personnel over the case.

The PNP later took back the announcement, but the charges remained due to the motu proprio case build-up by the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (MOLEO) based on a news report. This means the Ombudsman went ahead with its case build-up even without a complainant.

On November 26, 2014, the Ombudsman issued an order preventively suspending Catiis and other officers for a period of 6 months, prompting him to seek redress with the appellate court. – Rappler.com