Raps readied vs gun permit scam suspect

Police are preparing estafa and falsification of public documents charges against a meat dealer from Quezon City following his admission that he was responsible for selling fake permits to carry firearms outside residence (PTCFORs).

But first, authorities will attempt to locate and contact people who have been issued the bogus gun permits so they can act as complainants against Noel Binuya, 37. The suspect admitted that most of his victims were Chinese gun enthusiasts in Binondo, Manila.

In the falsification of public documents case, the Philippine National Police (PNP) will act as the aggrieved party.

Binuya, a meat dealer and resident of 64, 12th Avenue, Murphy, Cubao, Quezon City, accepted full responsibility in the gun permit anomaly.

His confession virtually cleared Senior Superintendent Gerry Barias, chief of the Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) of the PNP, of any liability.

However, PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. still has doubts as to Binuya’s story.

Ebdane directed Senior Superintendent Francisco Don Montenegro, chief of the National Capital Region (NCR) of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), to dig deeper into the case as he vowed to punish the culprits behind the scam.

Binuya admitted being a close friend of the owners of Kymtech, the company in charge and responsible in the manufacturing and printing of PNP firearms licenses and PTCFOR ID cards since March.

The suspect said he inserted 20 forms in a batch of legitimate applications. Those were eventually printed without the knowledge of the company’s owner Keith Morato and other persons in-charge of the PTCFOR ID cards.

Camp Crame sources said Binuya had identified himself as consultant of Kymtech on PNP matters.

He was often heard saying that he personally knew Ebdane, even bragging that he was "privileged enough to walk in and out of the office of the PNP chief."

Earlier this year, Ebdane ordered Superintendent Ricardo Marquez, chief of the PTCFOR secretariat, to process gun
permits after President Arroyo ordered the recall of all issued PTCFORs early this year.

Under the set-up, Marquez would process all applications for Kymtech to pick up for printing. The gun permit applicants are asked to pay only P4,150.

The anomaly was unearthed after Marquez recovered in April four PTCFORs issued under mysterious circumstances. The fake PTCFORs bore the serial numbers beyond the last number "03040264" issued by Marquez for the said month.

Reports gathered by Marquez showed that the fake gun permits were sold to gun enthusiasts for sums ranging from P12,000 to P16,000.

Binuya said he earned P100,000 in the anomaly. He said he used the money for the treatment of his sick father.

Camp Crame sources said a number of fake gun permit recipients were traced by Montenegro and have signified their willingness to file estafa charges against Binuya. – Non Alquitran