Firm wants NBI probe on insider job thefts

Officials of a locator at the Mactan Export Processing Zone in Lapu-Lapu City have sought the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation to look deeper into the alleged thefts of their products in the production line.

Renato Bontol, assistant general manager for administration of Pentax Cebu Philippines Corporation, wants the NBI to investigate the possible involvement of some of their workers in the smuggling of spare parts of cameras and even finished products out of the plant to be sold outside.

"We came to the NBI so that this could be stopped," Bontol said, as he warned the public that stolen Pentax products, especially digital cameras, are now circulating in Cebu City.

One proof of this, he said, is when the NBI arrested last week a businessman was arrested after he was found to have sold Pentax products that were declared stolen from the factories.

Mark Yap, who owns Gizmo shop inside a mall, was arrested in an entrapment operation when he sold stolen items to the NBI poseur buyers.

Yap said he did not know the products were stolen when he purchased them because these were in a box, with a complete manual. However, Yap will be charged today for violation of Presidential Decree 1612, otherwise known as the Anti-Fencing Law.

Despite the arrest, Pentax officials want a more in-depth investigation into the theft saying Yap was only the "tip of the iceberg."

Bontol believes that the thefts would go on if those directly responsible will not be arrested.

Bontol said they only discovered this matter recently but they believed that this has been going on for two years already. Their company has yet to determine how much losses were incurred because of this. - Fred P. Languido