Post by RedWest on Mar 26, 2009 22:12:35 GMT 10
Palace backs probing Estrada over toy gun
By Christian V. Esguerra, Christine Avendaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Published 26 March 2009
SAN JUAN, BATANGAS—Whatever happened to common sense?
Malacañang is supporting a move by the Philippine National Police to investigate former President Joseph Estrada and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay for riding on a military jeep with a mounted replica machine gun.
But the Palace-backed plan of the PNP quickly drew return fire.
Hardly amused, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said law enforces might as well go after “all children playing with toy guns” if they were really that serious about charging the two opposition leaders.
“What made them think they are above the law (just) because they are opposition leaders?” Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Wednesday in an interview by the government-owned Radyo ng Bayan.
Enrile said the police “overreacted” and warned that it would be a “laughingstock” if it “will charge a person for displaying a wooden machine gun on a jeep that they were parading in the street.”
“You know when you are enforcing the law, you have to use common sense,” Enrile told reporters in the Senate.
Another senator wondered at the fuss being made by the police over the choice of transport used by Estrada and Binay during a tour of Carmen town in Cebu province early this month.
“It’s a big joke,” Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Wednesday of the PNP investigation. A replica machine gun, he said, “cannot violate the Gun Code.”
On Tuesday, PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa ordered the Civil Security Group (CSG) to “dig deeper” into the circumstances surrounding the use of the jeep with the replica machine gun as this could be a violation of Letter of Instruction No. 1264, issued by then President Ferdinand Marcos in July 1982.
The law penalizes the sale, use and display of gun replicas.
‘Overreacted’
But on Wednesday, statements from the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame indicated that Estrada and Binay may well be on the clear for the jeep ride.
“As far as we’re concerned, we are only investigating the legality of the firearm. The investigation does not involve personalities,” said Chief Supt. Ireno Bacolod, CSG head.
Asked about the two politicians’ possible liability, Bacolod said: “As of this time? I don’t think so. The ride was just offered to them.”
But Remonde said Estrada and Binay were answerable to the law and “should explain why they were visiting Cebu, or any place for that matter, riding what seems to be an armed personnel carrier displaying a 50-caliber machine gun.”
“That is what they need to explain to the people. The PNP is just doing its job by investigating the matter,” he said.
Cebu swing
Estrada and Binay were in Cebu for the former president’s “Lakbay Pasasalamat,” a thanksgiving swing across several towns which observers noted have the trimmings of a political campaign.
On Wednesday, Estrada explained that the jeep ride in Carmen “was just for photo op.” He said Carmen Mayor Sonia Pua “was showing us the gun collection. I sat down on the jeep and even tried on a helmet.”
‘It must be the heat’
“It was an outmoded machine gun,” he maintained.
Reacting to Remonde’s remarks, Binay said that “it must be the heat. The people in Malacañang are suffering from serious sun stroke.”
Deposed in January 2001 and later sentenced to life imprisonment for plunder, Estrada was pardoned in 2007 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Since his release, Estrada has been threatening to run for president in 2010 if the opposition cannot unite behind a common candidate.
Binay had also declared his plan to seek the presidency.
Laughingstock
Pimentel said that if the police were serious about investigating Estrada and Binay, then it was a “form of harassment.”
Enrile said police officials were apparently out to impress the higher-ups by the fuss they were making on the matter.
“My advice to (the police) is don’t make a big thing out of this,” he said. “If I were the secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, I’ll tell them hey stop that … you will be the laughingstock of the entire nation.”
Nonexistent law?
Enrile, who served as defense secretary during the Marcos regime, said the LOI was a “martial law edict” that no longer existed. It was made because during that time when toy guns were for the first time being used to rob people, he said.
He stressed that the two opposition leaders were not committing any crime. “If you convict Erap and Binay, how about all the children playing with toy guns?” he said.
Confiscation
In Cebu, Senior Supt. Carmelo Valmoria, police provincial director, said he had sent two officers to Carmen Mayor Pua’s house on March 18 to inform her that owning a replica of machine gun violated the Marcos edict. The law carries a maximum punishment of confiscation.
Valmoria said Pua readily turned over the replica machine gun, which was kept in the custody of the Carmen police.
But Pua questioned the reason behind the seizure. “In my opinion, it’s more of a political issue because of Erap. It’s a public knowledge. We all know that he is in the opposition,” she said.
Valmoria, however, denied the mayor’s claim. He said he learned about the replica machine gun only after the picture of Estrada riding the jeep appeared in the papers, and informed Camp Crame about it.
Car show
Pua said her husband Orbito acquired the military jeep in the 1950s when he was still a bachelor. When he passed away three years ago, the family decided to restore the vehicle with its accessories, including the replica machine gun worth P100,000, when they joined a car show in 2007 at the Cebu International Convention Center.
“As far as we are concerned, what we’re after is the firearms aspect, the legality of the replica,” Bacolod said.
[i]With reports from Tarra Quismundo and Allison W. Lopez in Manila; and Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas[/i][/size]
By Christian V. Esguerra, Christine Avendaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Published 26 March 2009
SAN JUAN, BATANGAS—Whatever happened to common sense?
Malacañang is supporting a move by the Philippine National Police to investigate former President Joseph Estrada and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay for riding on a military jeep with a mounted replica machine gun.
But the Palace-backed plan of the PNP quickly drew return fire.
Hardly amused, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said law enforces might as well go after “all children playing with toy guns” if they were really that serious about charging the two opposition leaders.
“What made them think they are above the law (just) because they are opposition leaders?” Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Wednesday in an interview by the government-owned Radyo ng Bayan.
Enrile said the police “overreacted” and warned that it would be a “laughingstock” if it “will charge a person for displaying a wooden machine gun on a jeep that they were parading in the street.”
“You know when you are enforcing the law, you have to use common sense,” Enrile told reporters in the Senate.
Another senator wondered at the fuss being made by the police over the choice of transport used by Estrada and Binay during a tour of Carmen town in Cebu province early this month.
“It’s a big joke,” Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Wednesday of the PNP investigation. A replica machine gun, he said, “cannot violate the Gun Code.”
On Tuesday, PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa ordered the Civil Security Group (CSG) to “dig deeper” into the circumstances surrounding the use of the jeep with the replica machine gun as this could be a violation of Letter of Instruction No. 1264, issued by then President Ferdinand Marcos in July 1982.
The law penalizes the sale, use and display of gun replicas.
‘Overreacted’
But on Wednesday, statements from the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame indicated that Estrada and Binay may well be on the clear for the jeep ride.
“As far as we’re concerned, we are only investigating the legality of the firearm. The investigation does not involve personalities,” said Chief Supt. Ireno Bacolod, CSG head.
Asked about the two politicians’ possible liability, Bacolod said: “As of this time? I don’t think so. The ride was just offered to them.”
But Remonde said Estrada and Binay were answerable to the law and “should explain why they were visiting Cebu, or any place for that matter, riding what seems to be an armed personnel carrier displaying a 50-caliber machine gun.”
“That is what they need to explain to the people. The PNP is just doing its job by investigating the matter,” he said.
Cebu swing
Estrada and Binay were in Cebu for the former president’s “Lakbay Pasasalamat,” a thanksgiving swing across several towns which observers noted have the trimmings of a political campaign.
On Wednesday, Estrada explained that the jeep ride in Carmen “was just for photo op.” He said Carmen Mayor Sonia Pua “was showing us the gun collection. I sat down on the jeep and even tried on a helmet.”
‘It must be the heat’
“It was an outmoded machine gun,” he maintained.
Reacting to Remonde’s remarks, Binay said that “it must be the heat. The people in Malacañang are suffering from serious sun stroke.”
Deposed in January 2001 and later sentenced to life imprisonment for plunder, Estrada was pardoned in 2007 by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Since his release, Estrada has been threatening to run for president in 2010 if the opposition cannot unite behind a common candidate.
Binay had also declared his plan to seek the presidency.
Laughingstock
Pimentel said that if the police were serious about investigating Estrada and Binay, then it was a “form of harassment.”
Enrile said police officials were apparently out to impress the higher-ups by the fuss they were making on the matter.
“My advice to (the police) is don’t make a big thing out of this,” he said. “If I were the secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, I’ll tell them hey stop that … you will be the laughingstock of the entire nation.”
Nonexistent law?
Enrile, who served as defense secretary during the Marcos regime, said the LOI was a “martial law edict” that no longer existed. It was made because during that time when toy guns were for the first time being used to rob people, he said.
He stressed that the two opposition leaders were not committing any crime. “If you convict Erap and Binay, how about all the children playing with toy guns?” he said.
Confiscation
In Cebu, Senior Supt. Carmelo Valmoria, police provincial director, said he had sent two officers to Carmen Mayor Pua’s house on March 18 to inform her that owning a replica of machine gun violated the Marcos edict. The law carries a maximum punishment of confiscation.
Valmoria said Pua readily turned over the replica machine gun, which was kept in the custody of the Carmen police.
But Pua questioned the reason behind the seizure. “In my opinion, it’s more of a political issue because of Erap. It’s a public knowledge. We all know that he is in the opposition,” she said.
Valmoria, however, denied the mayor’s claim. He said he learned about the replica machine gun only after the picture of Estrada riding the jeep appeared in the papers, and informed Camp Crame about it.
Car show
Pua said her husband Orbito acquired the military jeep in the 1950s when he was still a bachelor. When he passed away three years ago, the family decided to restore the vehicle with its accessories, including the replica machine gun worth P100,000, when they joined a car show in 2007 at the Cebu International Convention Center.
“As far as we are concerned, what we’re after is the firearms aspect, the legality of the replica,” Bacolod said.
[i]With reports from Tarra Quismundo and Allison W. Lopez in Manila; and Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas[/i][/size]