Police Corporal Marlito Portugueza covers his face as he is arrested for stealing firearms stored for safekeeping. He will be facing both criminal and administrative charges. CDN Digital photo | Morexette Marie B. Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Police in Cebu City are now preparing to file cases against a fellow policeman who was arrested for stealing loose firearms stored for safekeeping.
Police Colonel Engelbert Soriano, chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), said Police Corporal Marlito Portugueza will be facing both criminal and administrative charges.
Soriano told reporters in a press conference on Thursday, February 27, 2020, that Portugueza was accused of stealing at least 12 unlicensed firearms from a safekeeping vault inside the Waterfront Police Station here.
These firearms, he said, belong to owners whose licenses are expired, and are now undergoing renewal process.
Portugueza was arrested by the Integrity Management Enhancement Group (IMEG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) around 4 a.m. on Thursday in Barangay Tinago.
He is now detained at the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) pending formal charges filed against him.
Portugueza was previously a member of the station’s drug enforcement group but was recently transferred to the investigation team.
“His previous team leader said he was uncomfortable of Portugueza. That’s why he is now with the investigation team,” Soriano said.
The CCPO chief also said he directed a surprise inventory of all firearms stored for safekeeping in all 13 police stations of the city after receiving information that a resident from Barangay Tinago kept bragging about getting a firearm from a police.
“Word came to us that someone from Barangay Tinago kept boasting about buying a gun from someone who is stationed in Police Station 3. Then I immediately instructed all police station chiefs to conduct an inventory,” he added.
Initial reports from investigators showed that there were 12 missing firearms in Waterfront Police Station.
“We had three witnesses who testified against the suspect. One of them saw him in the act of stealing the firearms from the vault and he offered money in exchange of his silence,” said Soriano.
Six guns confiscated from Portugueza were positively identified to be among those which were missing.
“He first requested to check the vault where the guns are stored. But because he was among the police assigned the station, nobody suspected him,” said Soriano.
Soriano expressed disappointment that the thief happened to be a part of a law enforcement agency.
He also said follow-up operations are now being conducted to retrieve the six other missing guns. /bmjo