2 soldiers probed over Compostela armory looting

Two soldiers are being investigated for the looting of the supply room of the Army’s 534th Engineering Combat Battalion in Compostela Valley last Saturday, due to the possibility of an “inside job.”

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said other personnel of the battalion’s Charlie Company are restricted to Camp Kalaw in Monkayo town while the investigation is ongoing.

Brawner did not yet reveal the identities of the soldiers being investigated.

Initial investigation conducted by Lt. Col. Alfredo Soriano, commanding officer of the 534th ECB, with the help of police scene-of-the-crime operatives, showed the “high probability of an inside job,” Brawner said.

Quoting Col. Romulo Cabantac, chief of the 52nd Engineering Brigade, Brawner said the execution was well planned, contrary to reports that it was a raid.

Missing from the supply room of the 534th ECB were 20 high-powered firearms, including 15 M-16 assault rifles, a baby Armalite, two M-14 sniper rifles, an M60 light machine gun, and an M203 grenade launcher. – James Mananghaya