THE Commission on Audit has recommended that the Police Regional Office 3 file charges against former officials of the Zambales Provincial Police Office responsible for the loss or disappearance of 44 assault rifles donated by the provincial government in 2006.
During an inspection on August 18, 2021, government auditors discovered that out of 50 Kalashnikov AK 102 rifles donated by the provincial government of Zambales in January 2006, only six rifles are still being used and the rest could not be accounted for.
Based on the deed of donation, delivery receipt, official receipt, and sales invoice, the 50 rifles were acquired to the tune of P2.87 million.
“Physical inventory of the unrecorded donated firearms revealed that only six out of 50 units of Kalashnikov AK 102 caliber 5.56 firearms were presented during the inspection on August 18, 2021,” the audit team noted in the 2021 audit of the PNP.
Review of available records revealed 36 of the 44 unaccounted rifles were supposed to have been assigned to the Zambales Provincial Jail, two rifles to the Zambales Police Provincial Office-Intelligence Operatives, and one each to the Botolan Police Station, Cabangan Police Station, Castillejos Police Station, Masinloc Police Station, San Narciso Police Station and Subic Police Station.
The distribution was supported by the Acknowledgement Receipts for Equipment (AREs) obtained by auditors.
But explanations submitted by concerned accountable officers said the rifles were already turned over to the governor or “Local Chief Executive of the Provincial Government of Zambales” way back 2008.
There were only two problems with this explanation: the governor made no acknowledgment of the supposed turnover of the firearms and the rifles remained missing.
