FBI help sought in probe of mutiny

The National Bureau of Investigation has asked the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help establish evidence on the July 27 mutiny staged by 321 soldiers in Makati City, NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco said yesterday.

Wycoco said the NBI asked its American counterpart to determine the source of the equipment the mutineers used when they stormed and sealed off a section of Makati City’s central business district for 22 hours last Sunday.

Much of the military hardware the soldiers used — like the M1A4 carbines, Barrett sniper rifles, night-vision goggles, thermal scopes and scanners — were part of the military aid the US government gave the country as part of the international war against terrorism.

But Wycoco said the other equipment seized at the Oakwood Premier Ayala Center luxury apartments were non-military and appeared to have been imported under still undetermined circumstances.

Aside from computers and office supplies readily available locally, the authorities also seized from the mutineers sophisticated equipment estimated to be worth P10 million.

Among them are 22 units of Motorola GP338 VHF radios worth P28,000 each (or a total of P616,000), three Motorola base radios each worth P50,000 (or a P150,000 total) and six pairs of short-range personal radios valued at P7,000 apiece (or a P42,000 total).

The authorities also seized from Oakwood Premier one ICOM VHF base radio worth P50,000, four ICOM automatic antenna tuners, two Ericsson satellite phones valued at P30,000 each and various accessories.

Aside from the high-tech communications equipment seized from inside the apartment building, 300 ordinary, handheld radios were in the possession of renegade soldiers who were posted at various places outside the building.

The mutineers were also equipped with Camelback water hydration backpacks which are not issued by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Wycoco noted that most of these equipment are manufactured in the US and the manufacturer could identify the items and determine to whom in the US it was sold or distributed.

"We are now coordinating with our counterpart to know who bought the soldiers’ equipment (so) we can establish linkages and identify the persons who helped the soldiers in the mutiny," Wycoco said.

The mutineers, he said, were evidently aided and abetted by some "people with financial means" and the NBI is now watching shipping companies which they suspect imported the soldiers’ equipment.

Wycoco said the authorities are also considering making some of the mutineers, especially those who surrendered, to be state witnesses in exchange for some protection.