LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—The provincial prosecutor’s office has recommended the charging of three personnel of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-North Central Luzon after finding probable cause for robbery and planting of evidence.
Assistant City Prosecutor Alipio George P. Bayubay Jr. recommended the filing of charges against PO3 Leonard Agpad, PO3 William Mendoza and PO3 Danny Mayuga.
The three arrested Wilfredo Lino Paran in front of the Calajo restaurant, Km. 6 at around 7:40 a.m. .of Feb. 5, 2015, after he allegedly sold two .45 cal. small firearms to PO3 Mayuga.
Paran is one of those implicated in the murder of one Benjamin Untalan in 2010 and a suspected member of the Joey Severo group, whose activities include gun running.
The three policemen claimed that their superior, Chief Inspector Carlos B. Lictag, called them to participate in a buy-bust operation against Paran. They had learned from an informant that Paran was looking for a buyer for his two .45 cal. pistols.
Mayuga was designated as a buyer with Mendoza and Agpad as his security back up and arresting officers.
But in the same resolution, Bayubay dismissed earlier charges of illegal possession of firearms filed by the three CIDG-NCL personnel against Paran for lack of probable cause.
“Their complaint against Paran has no leg to stand on. There was no buy-bust to speak of. The firearms and ammunitions submitted were planted. The licensed firearms they took from Paran have not been accounted for and, for this reason; he could not also be made liable for illegal possession of firearms,” the resolution stated.
In his counter-affidavit and counter-charge, Paran denied the charge labelled against him and claimed that Mayuga, Mendoza and Agpad replaced his licensed firearms with the guns subject of the case. He claimed that a certain Junior Pacdayan, brother of his friend Filsan Pacdayan, called him on Feb. 3, 2015 to borrow money and to ask if indeed, he was selling his firearms and that they agreed, after he confirmed the information, to meet at the Kinudayan restaurant at Km. 6 in the morning of Feb. 4 for the prospective buyer to see and inspect the firearms, and that he subsequently got his firearms from the house of his brother then.
Bayubay found the claim of Paran to be credible, citing that the failure of the police officers to present Junior Pacaayan, their alleged informant, during the two scheduled clarificatory hearings and the statements given by Mayuga relative to the value and conditions of the firearms validate his claim and that the doubt on the alleged buy-bust could have been clarified had the police officers presented their informant.