DOJ dismisses ‘tanim-bala’ cases against airport police, personnel
DOJ- Department of Justice has released the decision dismissing the complaints against policemen and security personnel of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). The said respondents were accused of “tanim-bala (bullet-planting)” in NAIA involving the American missionary last year.
According to the resolution, “We do not find probable cause to indict respondents for all the cases filed against them.” American missionary Lane Michael White, who is 20 years old, alleged that he was asked to pay P30,000 by the policemen in exchange for dropping the charges against him after a bullet was found in his luggage at the NAIA last September 17, 2015 while he and his family were about to board a flight to Coron, Palawan.
Meanwhile, the cases against airport baggage inspector Maria Cena, X-ray operator Marvin Garcia who were accused of planting evidence, and policemen – Chief Inspector Adriano Junio, SPO4 Ramon Bernardo, SPO2 Rolando Clarin, and SPO2 Romy Navarro who were accused of robbery/extortion, has been recommended for dismissal in a resolution of Associate Prosecution Attorney II Honey Rose Delgado.
Navarro on the other hand has also been charged of violating Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) and Republic Act 7438 (An Act Defining Certain Rights of Person Arrested, Detained or Under Custodial Investigation as well as the Duties of Arresting, Detaining and Investigating Officers)
However the resolution reads, “we cannot say with certainty that it was respondents Cena and Garcia who inserted or placed the ammunition inside complainant’s luggage,” it stressed.
On the other hand, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 6, at Kalibo, Aklan, has also dismissed the criminal case filed against a young couple – Jerome Sulit and wife Rochelle which was caught carrying bullets at the Caticlan airport last April. The couple had the trip to Boracay for honeymoon, yet ended having bullets on their bag.
