Dismissed Police Chief Supt. Raul Petrasanta and three other
former police officials on Tuesday asked Sandiganbayan to return half of the
bail bond they have posted in cash for their graft cases in connection with the
alleged AK-47 rifle scam.
Petrasanta, together with three other dismissed police
officials — Sr. Supt. Eduardo Acierto, Supt. Nelson Bautista and Chief Insp.
Ricardo Zapata, Jr., asked the Sixth Division of Sandiganbayan to reduce by
half their bail bond.
"Above-named accused, with all due respect, move for
the cash bail bond to be reduced to fifty percent of the total amount posted
taking into consideration Section 9, Rule 114 of the Revised Rules of Criminal
Procedure," the four former police officials’ joint motion read.
Under Section 9 Rule 114 of the Revised Rules of Criminal
Procedure, the court may fix or reduce the bail bond of the accused based on
the following grounds:
Financial capability of the accused to give bail; Nature and
circumstances of the offense; Penalty for the offense charged; Charter and
reputation of the accused; Age and health of the accused; Weight of evidence
against the accused; Probability of the accused appearing at the trial; Whether
or not the accused was a fugitive from justice when arrested; and Pendency of
other cases where the accused is on bail.
In their motion, Petransanta, Acierto, Bautista and Zapata
said following their dismissal from service in relation to the case, they no
longer have sources of income to pay for the interest of the loans that they
used to post their bail.
"They were dismissed from police service in relation to
the administrative aspect of the case, thus all the accused at present are
having difficulty making both ends meet, in particular complying with the
monthly interest for their loan used in their cash bond," their motion
read.
"All the accused are not flight risk and commit to
appear in all stages of the trial," they added.
Petrasanta, who headed the Philippine National Police (PNP)
Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) before his dismissal, had posted
Php750,000 bail bond in exchange for his provisional liberty for 25 counts of
graft.
Meanwhile, his co-accused Acierto posted Php330,000 bail
bond for 11 counts of graft, Bautista Php120,000 for four counts of graft, and
Zapata Php30,000 for one count of graft.
The graft cases against Petrasanta and 14 others former
high-ranking police officials stemmed from the alleged anomalous issuance of
licenses for over a hundred units of high-powered AK-47 rifles in favor of four
private companies despite incomplete or falsified applications and supporting
documents.
Most of the firearms were later recovered from the members
of New People’s Army (NPA) in an encounter with the military in Mindanao in 2014. The Office of the Ombudsman earlier
ordered all the respondents’ dismissal from service in connection with the
case.
Petrasanta, Acierto, Bautista and Zapata are also facing
another set of graft cases before the Sixth Division as co-accused of dismissed
PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima in connection with the alleged
anomalous courier service deal that the PNP entered into in 2011.
Purisima and all his co-accused have already posted bail in
exchange for their provisional liberty.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=901485
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