Sandiganbayan acquits 2 ex-police generals, colonel of graft in rifle license mess

MANILA, Philippines – The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan has acquitted two former police generals and a police colonel of graft in connection to the illegal issuance of rifle licenses. The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division granted the motions for reconsideration filed by former police generals Tomas Rentoy III and Gil Meneses and Colonel Regino Catiis, setting aside their graft conviction in December 2025. The cases involved the alleged anomalous processing, approval, and release of hundreds of high-power firearms to a private security agency in 2011 and 2012, in violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act or Republic Act No. 3019. In granting Rentoy’s motion for reconsideration, the court noted that his previous conviction was based on three memoranda bearing the subject “Authority to Purchase Firearms.” “After a careful re-evaluation of the evidence, the Court finds that the prosecution failed to establish, by competent and credible proof, the existence, authenticity, and official provenance of the alleged original Authority to Purchase Firearms (ATPFs),” the court said. As for Catiis, the court cited the testimony of handwriting expert witness Edwardo del Rosario that Catiis’ supposed signature on the Applications for Firearms License (AFLs) and his genuine signature “were not written by one and the same person.” “Notably, the specimen signatures utilized as standards were taken from documents bearing accused Catiis’ signatures, which form part of the official records of the PNP, thereby lending additional credence to the reliability of the examination,” the Sixth Division said. In the case of Meneses, the court said: “This fact stands unrefuted. In view of his lack of authority to license, approve, or recommend approval, accused Meneses could not have exercised discretion in the issuance of ATPFs.” On December 5, 2025, the anti-graft court found the following PNP officials and personnel guilty beyond reasonable of multiple counts of graft: former police generals Raul Petrasanta, Rentoy, Gil Meneses, and Napoleon Estilles; colonels Eduardo Acierto, Allan Parreño, and Regino Catiis; Major Nelson Bautista; Master Sergeant Randy de Sesto; non-uniformed personnel Sol Bargan; and businessman Isidro Lozada, owner of Caraga Security Agency. In its latest ruling the court affirmed the conviction of Estilles, Bautista, Zapata, De Sesto, and Lozada. “Verily, in the performance of their official functions, accused Bautista, Zapata, and De Sesto cannot now disclaim responsibility by asserting lack of authority to evaluate the regularity of the firearms license applications. Public accountability attaches not to formal titles alone, but to the actual discharge of official functions,” the court said. The explanations of the rest of the accused failed to convince the court that they had no participation in the conferment of unwarranted benefit to Lozada and the Caraga Security Agency. Based on case records, prosecutors traced hundreds of AK-47 and CZ858 rifles purchased by the Caraga Security Agency supposedly for the JTC Mineral Mining Corporation, Isla Security Agency, and Claver Mineral Development Corporation. Several of the imported firearms, however, were later recovered after encounters with the New People’s Army in Agusan del Sur in 2013. – Rappler.com