Axed PNP chief barred from leaving Phl
The Sandiganbayan issued hold departure orders (HDOs) yesterday against dismissed Philippine National Police ( PNP) chief Alan Purisima and his fellow respondents in a graft case stemming from an anomalous P100- million courier service contract in 2011.
The anti-graft court’s Sixth Division, chaired by Associate Justice Rodolfo Ponferrada, directed the Bureau of Immigration to place him and his co-accused in its hold departure list.
Purisima’s fellow respondents include former PNP Firearms and Explosives Office chief Raul Petrasanta and several other former police officials.
Petrasanta and four others posted P30,000 bail last Friday, anticipating that the Sandiganbayan will issue ar- rest warrants as soon as it finds probable cause.
Purisima, however, opted to file a motion for judicial determination of probable cause questioning his indictment and asking for the charges to be junked.
On June 30, 2015, he was dismissed from service by the Office of the Ombudsman over his alleged involvement in the courier service deal.
The HDOs issued against him and his co-accused now bar them from leaving the country without prior permission or clearance from the antigraft court.
Purisima was indicted last month for his alleged role in the anomalous courier service contract between the PNP and Werfast Documentation Agency Inc. (Werfast).
The Office of the Ombudsman said the courier service company had no corporate existence and juridical personality when the PNP engaged its services for the delivery of firearms licenses through a memorandum of agreement ( MOA) in May 2011, which was done without conducting a public bidding.
Among Purisima’s other corespondents are former police officials Eduardo Acierto, Nelson Bautista, Ricardo Zapata Jr., Napoleon Estilles, Gil Meneses, Allan Parreño, Melchor Reyes, Lenbell Fabia, Sonia Calixto and Ford Tuazon.
Werfast incorporators Mario Juan, Salud Bautista, Enrique Valerio, Lorna Perena and Juliana Pasia were also charged as private respondents in the graft case.