Mendoza pleads 'not guilty' to illegal possession of firearms charges

MANILA, Philippines -  The brother of slain hostage taker Rolando Mendoza pleaded not guilty to charges of illegal possession of firearms yesterday.

Senior Police Officer 2 Gregorio Mendoza was in his policeman’s uniform during arraignment before Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 10.

Judge Virgilio Alameda set the preliminary conference on June 6, 2011 at 9 a.m.

Mendoza said the gun he was carrying during the hostage taking was legally issued to him as a member of the Philippine National Police.

“I am now attending a lot of hearings of my cases,” he said.

“I am not suspended. I am on active duty. In one of my cases, an administrative case, the (Office of the) Ombudsman will handle my case.”

Mendoza said he has been disarmed pending trial of the cases against him. 

“From the very beginning this is harassment,” he said.

“But I have no choice but to face the charges. But later on I will have justice. This should only be an administrative case since the firearm was not used in the commission of a crime.

“This was issued by the PNP. The serial numbers are docketed to my name.

“I am authorized to carry a gun since I am a member of the PNP. I was on duty before the incident happened. I am a policeman and I am authorized to carry a gun.”

Mendoza said the Manila police filed the case against him on orders of Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.

“I was assigned to the Investigation Division of the MPD during that time,” he said.

“My work is continuous since I was following up cases. When you are in investigation, our work is continuous.”

Mendoza said he might go to Mt. Banahaw for about two days to seek relief from the problems he is facing.

“Somebody called me and advised me to go to the mountains to ease my problems,” he said.

“I might go on leave for two days. All kinds of challenges I already endured, both physically and mentally.

“I could still concentrate on my work. However, in spite of (being) on duty, I have no service firearm. But I am ready to serve the Philippine National Police. I still have three more years to go before I retire.”

Mendoza said he still trusts the Manila police.

“But there are people who don’t see me as one of their colleagues because maybe they were influenced by some of the members,” he said.

He still has a motion to have his service firearm returned to him, Mendoza said.

Lawyer Mayo Domingo Ramos said he advised Mendoza not to plead at the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court because he objected to the civil disobedience case against him.

“In the civil disobedience case, there were two crimes in one complaint,” he said.

“They split this into two crimes in the complaint. That is why we objected to it and did not plead. But here we pleaded not guilty. We are studying what legal remedies to do. We conferred earlier and decided that he face the charges.”