Senator Rodolfo Biazon meminta Senat mengadakan penyelidikan

By Christine Avendaño, Jerome Aning, Marlon Ramos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:27:00 09/03/2009

Filed Under: Smuggling, Firearms

MANILA, Philippines

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon has called for a Senate investigation of the foiled smuggling of high-powered assault rifles worth P25 million, saying he considered the attempt to bring the guns into the country a national security issue.

Biazon said the firearms that were seized from a foreign ship anchored off the coast of Mariveles in Bataan last Aug. 20 were “configured for combat” and should be a matter of interest for the military.

The senator filed Senate Resolution 1386 seeking an investigation of the arms smuggling by the national defense committee which he chairs.

In a press briefing, Biazon presented to reporters a wooden crate containing one or two pieces of the Galil SSS1-V1 Caliber 5.56 assault rifles that were seized aboard the Panamanian-registered ship, the Captain Ufuk, anchored off Mariveles two weeks ago. He said that when he read through a report of the arms smuggling incident, he thought “this is not just a smuggling issue.”

Biazon said he was disturbed because along with the 50 Indonesian-made assault rifles and 45 bayonets that were seized, the raiding team found empty wooden crates that suggested there were 150 rifles that are now on the loose.

“This is not just a case of loose firearms. This is a case for national security because 200 rifles could arm a battalion, could arm two companies,” said Biazon, a former Armed Forces chief of staff.

“Where are they [the missing firearms]? Are they with rebels and which rebel? The Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the New People’s Army or the Abu Sayyaf?” he asked.

He said the military should be “interested” in the issue and not just the Philippine National Police or the Bureau of Customs. A more thorough investigation was also needed because of the involvement of foreigners in the incident, he said.

The Coast Guard’s initial report said that the Ufuk—which sailed out of Turkey and made brief stops in Malaysia and Indonesia—changed its captain on Aug. 19 off the waters of Bagac, Bataan. The new captain, John Lawerence Burne, a South African, arrived on board a yacht and took over from Bruce Jones, a Briton.

Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo earlier said he had information that some of the firearms were loaded on to the yacht which he said came from the Subic Bay Yacht Club.

Tamayo tentatively identified the yacht as Mou Man Tai, registered under the name of a certain David Smith with an office address in Mandaue, Cebu.

The Coast Guard said the Ufuk was owned by the Makati-based Plata Trading but was registered in Panama.

Burne, who arrived in Manila on Aug. 15 on a tourist visa, and the Ufuk’s crew of 13 Georgian nationals who had no seamen’s visas, have been ordered arrested by Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan.

Jones, who has gone into hiding, has been placed on the immigration bureau’s hold-departure list.

In Indonesia where an investigation is being conducted because the weapons were exported by the Indonesian state arms maker, Pindad, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono told Indonesian media that not all of the weapons had arrived at their destination, adding that some of the assault rifles were probably unloaded somewhere else before the ship reached Mariveles.

Pindad said the assault weapons were ordered by the government of the Western African state of Mali while the pistols were ordered by a group of sports enthusiasts from the Philippines.