Ex-mayor Yapha faces charges for unreturned FAs

CEBU, Philippines - Former Pinamungajan mayor and the present president of the Association of Barangay Councils, Jeffrey Yapha, is now facing charges for his failure to return the municipal issued firearms to date.

A retired government employee of the town, Rigel Teñedo, has filed criminal and administrative complaints against Yapha before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas for alleged malversation of public property punishable under the Revised Penal Code.

Teñedo alleged that starting from the time Yapha was the town mayor, vice-mayor and now the barangay captain of Poblacion and concurrently ex-officio member of the Sangguniang Bayan of Pinamungajan, Cebu, he had been issued seve-ral firearms by the municipal government.

These include a 12 GA Norin shotgun, 9mm Glock 19 handgun, 9mm P19 Tanfoglio pistol, 45 Imp. Def. Ranger pistol, 9mm Bernardelli Sarselmag pistol, 9mm Glock JZ pistol, and a 9mm Llama pistol.

Sometime in 2012, the municipal government of Pinamungajan received from the Firearms and Explosive Office, Firearms, Licensing Division, Camp Crame, Quezon City, a notice dated July 20, 2012 that the firearms that are in the possession of Yapha already had expired licenses and the municipality was ordered to renew them, otherwise, it will result in the revocation of its licenses and the confiscation of the firearms.

Acting upon such directive, Municipal Treasurer Ursula Managaytay issued a letter request to Yapha requiring him to turn over said firearms to their office for safekeeping but allegedly left unheeded.

When Mayor Glenn Baricuatro assumed office, he issued Memorandum Order dated July 1, 2013 requiring the Managaytay to account and turn-over all service vehicles and firearms owned by the municipal government on or before July 5, 2013.

This compelled Managaytay to issue a Notice for Expired Licenses dated July 3, 2013 to Yapha which also served as its first demand for the return of said firearms.

In response, Yapha reportedly submitted an undated letter to the municipal treasurer on July 11, 2013 explaining that the said firearms were already endorsed by him to the Pinamungajan Police Station during his term as mayor.

However, the then OIC chief of police of  Pinamungajan, S/Insp. Jaime Dela Fuente Santillan informed Managaytay that no firearms were found and received by them as verified by the supply-in-charge of the said police station.

Managaytay send second notice to Yapha who allegedly still failed and refused to comply with said demand to return the firearms that were in his custody.

Teñedo asked the ant-graft office to order the preventive suspension of Yapha pending investigation of the case.

Yapha immediate successor and his sister, then mayor Geraldine Yapha, told The Freeman that she still has to ask her brother about the allegations.  (FREEMAN)