Ex-Negros mayor files falsification case vs PNP exec

BACOLOD CITY — A former mayor of Pulupandan town in Negros Occidental has filed charges of falsification of public documents against an official of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Former mayor Magdaleno Peña said Senior Superintendent Jose Mario Espino, deputy director for administration of the PNP-Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies, was responsible for the submission of a fake neuro-psychiatric clearance, which was attributed to him.

The clearance was a requirement in securing a permit to own and possess firearms.

Peña filed the complaint against Espino before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Feb. 16.

He said Espino had a hand in the raid on the Montilla ancestral house in Barangay Ubay, where alleged unlicensed firearms, ammunition and explosives were stored.

Peña said criminal and administrative charges were filed against Espino before the Office of the Ombudsman and the DOJ after the firearms turned out to have licenses.

He said the raid on the ancestral house resulted in the filing of criminal charges against him and eight other civilians.

The DOJ has dismissed the cases agaist him.

Peña said Espino holds a grudge against him and fabricated the clearance so he could not secure permits for the firearms.

He said he did not submit the fake clearance.