Oil pilferage foiled

The rising prices of oil and gasoline has become so much of a headache for many Filipino so that stealing these products has become an alternative for some crooks running out of establishments to rob.

This is what had taken place for almost two years at the Guillermo Arciaga Compound located at No. 51 National Road, Barangay Putatan, Muntinlupa City.

Some tankers coming from the Pandacan oil depot going to the provinces of Laguna, Batangas, Cavite and other nearby provinces would make detours at midnight at the Arciaga Compound. The pilferage was being done by conniving drivers of the tankers and the compound’s helpers and mechanics. At the compound, a considerable amount of petroleum products from these tankers would be siphoned out to separate containers.

So as not to discover their crime, they would replace the stolen petroleum products with kerosene before they are delivered to various gasoline stations in the said provinces. For the 5,000-liter gasoline that a tanker holds, 2,000 liters would be siphoned and replaced with equal amount of kerosene. Then the pilfered oil would be sold by the same group.

The band of pilferers imaginatively called themselves the Paihi Gang. In Filipino, paihi means "someone’s request to use a comfort room to urinate." This may have come from the sight of oil and gasoline passing through a transparent siphon which has the same color as human urine.

But the happy days of the Paihi Gang members ended on Feb. 6, 2003. At around 9 a.m., a call from a concerned citizen, who refused to be named for security reasons, was made to Patrol 117, reporting the oil pilferage.

SPO2 Josefina Legaspi of the Muntinlupa police station received a phone call from Patrol 117. The caller said the activity was being done at night, involving oil tankers and several crew members of the Arciaga Compound.

Trusting that it was not a prank call, Legaspi immediately referred the matter to Superintendent Ernest Lim-Sanchez.

At 10 a.m., Lim-Sanchez directed Inspector Rene Lasola, chief of the operations division, to dispatch PNCOs for surveillance, so as to verify the report. With the help of barangay officials of Putatan, the information was proven true.

Because the target is private property, the Muntinlupa police facilitated the necessary documents needed for the issuance of a Search Warrant and seizure order from the office of Muntinlupa City Executive Judge Norma Perello.

But due to her hectic schedule, the paper was signed only at 11 a.m. on Feb. 8, Saturday, or two days after the tip was received. The one who stood up as complainant was Gerard Galang, 37, manager of Genmar Trucking Inc., which was one of the companies affected by the pilferage.

On the same day, a raiding team was formed. It was composed of SPO2 Giovanni Martinez of the Intel Section, Inspector Manuel Surel of PCP2 Mobile Unit, PO2 Reynaldo Aguirre of DAPCO, SPO4 Armando Alambro of Investigation Section, members of the Peace and Order Security Office (POSO) of Muntinlupa City and barangay officials of Putatan.

Around 8 p.m., led by Lim-Sanchez and Inspector Rene Lasola, the raiding team was deployed. They waited for a few hours, and at 1:55 a.m., Feb. 9, the team found out that the oil tankers were already inside. As they were about to go in, one of the tankers was leaving the compound. When the gate opened, the team took the opportunity to carry out the raid.

Seized were a red tanker loaded with petroleum; a green tanker with 4,000 liters of petroleum; another green tanker with 14,000-liter capacity; a tanker with a 40,000-liter capacity; and a galvanized tanker with a 14,000-liter capacity. Three empty Isuzu tankers, 37 drums filled with petroleum, 41 empty drums, one robin pump, several hoses, 59 used aluminum and plastic seals, receipts, an Equitable-PCIBank passbook with P7,600 cash deposit, and a Motorola phone were also recovered.

Arrested immediately were the 16 persons inside, ages 28 to 61. They are truck drivers, mechanics, stay-in caretakers of the warehouse and helpers in the garage. They were identified as Ruben Dipolog, Dennis Arellano, Broso Santos, Ernesto Salonga, Rolando Pineda, Danilo Villar, Henry Calapang Noel Cadiz, Gregorio Balesoza, Romeo Hanid, Edison Sinesa, Dionisio Tubal, Roger Gentalian, Reynaldo Dorega, Nelson Geron and Alvaro Pascual.

Cases of qualified theft and violation of PD 1612 or the Anti-Fencing Law were filed against them before the city prosecutor’s office of Muntinlupa City.

The suspects are out on bail but the case is still ongoing. The same charge was also slapped against the owner of Guillermo Arciaga Compound, which is now operational only as an automotive shop.

Had the call not been made to Patrol 117, millions of pesos would continue to be lost to pilferage of petroleum products.