PNP probes Pampanga town cops linked to petrol pilferage racket
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGA—Several police personnel in Lubao town of Pampanga province are under investigation for allegedly receiving bribes from drivers and traders pilfering petroleum hauled from Bataan and Subic Bay Freeport, Philippine National Police officials confirmed on Saturday.
Police Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, PNP spokesperson and Central Luzon police director, said she ordered an investigation after the June 12 raid on two sites verified the “illegal trading and hoarding of stolen petroleum products.”
The roles of Lubao lawmen in the racket, locally known as “patulo” and “paihi,” were also being investigated, according to Col. Jay Dimaandal, Pampanga police director.
Fajardo and Dimaandal did not disclose how many cops were covered by the probe, what possible violations they faced and when the investigation would be concluded.
In a compound in the interiors of Barangay Prado Siongco in Lubao, the police and the Bureau of Fire Protection seized 32 1,000-liter containers, two metal tanks, two pumps, about 3,800 liters of petroleum, a tanker truck, sales receipts and P279,400 in cash.
In the second site along the bypass road in the town’s Barangay Lourdes, the raiding team recovered 15 filled up 1,000-liter containers, several empty containers, two funnels, two trucks, and a dump truck.
It was not known if both sites were owned or rented by the same yet to be identified person or company.
A total of 16 men have been arrested for alleged violation of Batasang Pambansa Blg. 33, a report from the provincial police showed.
Prohibited acts
Batasang Pambansa Blg. 33 is a 1979 law that defines and penalizes certain prohibited acts inimical to the public interest and national security involving petroleum and/or petroleum products.
Ethanol was not listed as among those found or taken from the compound but an Inquirer informant said the liquid was taken from a company in Bulacan and mixed with the pilfered petroleum.
According to an Inquirer informant, who declined to be named, drivers of trailers pitched in an average of P400,000 weekly to lawmen securing the national highway in Lubao.
The drivers worked alone, operating without an assistant to protect their illicit activity.
The source obtained first-hand information from a former driver who went into hiding about a month before the June 12 raids. This driver, a resident of Hermosa town in Bataan, was able to build and operate two gas stations before he stopped driving trailers.
On a daily basis, each trailer that entered the two Lubao sites were drained of around 2,000 liters. Between 15 and 18 trailers would enter the two sites from 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.
Similar sites were reported to be operating in Porac and Floridablanca towns, both in Pampanga, and the supplies were destined for Northern Luzon.
In Bataan, a compound in Orani town was said to be ran by a village chief while a “patulo” in Hermosa was reported to be operated by a relative of a local official.
