Missing guns? Tell it to the Marines A RETIRED Marine commandant and seven other people were charged before the anti-graft court yesterday over the unexplained disappearance of 77 sub-machine guns in June 2000.
The Ombudsman charged retired Brig. Gen. Percival Subala, now deputy administrator for port operations at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority; Col. Cesar de la Peņa, former Marines chief-of-staff; Navy Capt. Teodoro Briones; SPO4 Richard Zules; and private individuals Edelbert Uybuco, Gerardo Vijandre, Manuel Ferdinand Trinidad, and Michael Boregas with illegal disposition of firearms after it was discovered that 77 H&K MP5 sub-machineguns were missing.
In the charge sheet, the prosecution said the defendants conspired to divert the shipment of firearms to Trimark Ventures Trading Corp., which was the accredited supplier of firearms and ammunition to the police and the military. In October 2000, a police task force raided a beach resort in Subic, Zambales, and arrested members of a gunrunning syndicate. Some of these firearms turned out to be part of the 77 sub-machine guns that went missing, prosecutors said. Macon Ramos Araneta
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=news3_mar27_2008That should serve as a stern warning to all greedy breed.
As for combatting corruption involving misuse of weapons, i suggest these;
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CREATE A COMPUTERIZED DATABASE THAT WILL MONITOR AND RECORD ALL WEAPONS ACQUISITION, DELIVERY, ETC.
this will include record on;
- who is the last recipient
- who approved the transfer
- who delivered the items
- which company it was bought from
- the details of the weapons (serial number, model)
- current status