Santiago is set to file a bill seeking to amend the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act by increasing the penalty against planting evidence, if committed by a private individual, to reclusion temporal.
The amendment, if approved, means that a person found guilty of inserting, placing, or attaching a bullet, a firearm, or parts of either, with the intent of incriminating another, may be punished with imprisonment for 12 years and one day up to 20 years.
"The government must send a clear message to these airport syndicates that it will not tolerate these criminal activities and will prosecute those who plant evidence with as much zeal as it pursues those who smuggle firearms and ammunition," Santiago said in statement Friday.
At present, the penalty for planting evidence is prision mayor (imprisonment for six years and one day to 12 years), except when the person found guilty is a public official or employee, in which case, the penalty is reclusion perpetua (imprisonment for 20 years and one day to 40 years).
According to Santiago, even if proposed amendments to Republic Act No. 10591 decriminalize possession of not more than three bullets, the tanim-bala operations can still persist, simply by increasing the number of ammunition planted.
"The law must punish those who, in the guise of upholding peace and order, abuse the law to prey on the innocent, whether these offenders are public officers or private citizens," the senator said.
The Senate blue ribbon committee and committee on public services on Thursday started investigating the bullet-planting scheme which has victimized travelers, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and foreigners, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Some of the victims, including OFW Gloria Ortinez and American missionary Lane Michael White were asked to recount their ordeal while airport officials were grilled over the controversy.
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source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
