A group of retired high-ranking police officers implicated in the missing AK-47 rifles in Mindanao in 2013 are poised to file a motion for reconsideration of the Sandiganbayan’s verdict, maintaining their innocence on the charges levelled against them.
“We will exhaust all legal remedies available to us just to prove our innocence in this case. The court may have overlooked its appreciation of the documentary and testimonial evidence that were presented during the trial,” the group said in a statement.
The statement was issued by retired Maj. Gen. Napoleon Estilles and ex-Civil Security Group chief Gil Meneses.
The Sandiganbayan recently meted out a guilty verdict on the case.
The police officers insisted that they were not involved in the purchase and selling of the firearms, and that there were no government funds or property involved in the alleged irregularity.
They argued that the prosecution witnesses were not able to establish that they (respondents) gained financially in private transactions.
“As to the real intention of where the firearms will go, that knowledge and discretion were only known between the seller Twin Pines/A-Zone and Mr. Isidro Lozada, the buyer. But the prosecution questionably failed to charge the seller which is Twin Pines/A-Zone,” the statement read.
The lawmen were charged before the Sandiganbayan for the questionable AK-47 rifle deals.
