Isabela fiscals linked to missing guns in raps vs mayor

ILAGAN, Isabela, Philippines  – Some prosecutors in Isabela have been linked to the mysterious disappearance of guns used as evidence in the illegal possession of firearms charges against Gamu town Mayor Fernando Cumigad.

Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Don Abogado said all prosecutors and employees of the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor should be investigated.

“All of us in the prosecutor’s office should be investigated,” he said.

The loss of the guns was discovered after Cumigad’s lawyers sought their presentation and examination in court last Aug. 26.

Provincial Prosecutor Anthony Foz said police are investigating how the guns were stolen from the evidence locker in the Isabela Prosecutor’s Office.

The missing firearms – four rifle grenades, a 9mm pistol and an M16 rifle – had been part of the firearms and ammunition seized from the mayor’s house in a raid two days before the last elections.

The National Bureau of Investigation is conducting a parallel probe.

Cumigad said some prosecutors could be involved in the disappearance of his firearms. They were covered with licenses and their confiscation was part of political harassment against him, he added.

Isabela Rep. Napoleon Dy has sought a congressional investigation of the missing firearms.

“This is no longer a laughing matter,” he said. “This could be an eye opener of how things are being done since it is possible that similar events (of evidences being lost or destroyed under the prosecution’s custody) are happening in fiscals’ offices throughout the country.”