NBI seizes ‘unauthorized’ diesel cargo; truckers held

Days after big oil companies complained of massive smuggling of petroleum products in the country, the National Bureau of Investigation on Thursday said it had intercepted an unmarked truck allegedly carrying an unauthorized cargo of diesel fuel in Paco, Manila.

The NBI said the truck’s three crewmen were placed under arrest shortly after making deliveries to two bus terminals.

Mamerto Cortez, head agent of the bureau’s Anti-Organized Crime Division, said the tanker truck came from a depot in Abucay, Bataan province, and was registered under the company FAP Haulers, which has offices in Paranaque City and Subic Bay Freeport.

An NBI agent who took part in the operation but who declined to be named for lack of authority to speak to the media said the driver, Dennis Abarquez, described the owners of the truck as relatives of a senatorial candidate.

The agent also said several men in sport utility vehicles with campaigns stickers of a senatorial candidate arrived at the scene shortly after the truck was flagged down near Paco Park.

The men did not intervene but only checked on the crewmen’s condition and left without speaking with the NBI team, the agent told the Inquirer.

The company owners, identified as couple Franco and Angela Penson, were not in the Paranaque office when agents went there for a follow-up operation, Cortez added.

Told of the driver’s statement regarding the owners’ background, Cortez said, “That’s no longer our concern. We’re just there to do our job.”

The truck was manned by Abarquez, Jamar Pingal and a minor when intercepted.  “They were not able to present documents about their cargo,” the head agent said.

“They are being charged with illegal sale (of petroleum products), but an investigation is ongoing to determine the source of the diesel oil,” he said.