Court junks ex-PNP exec’s appeal in 2013 rifle scam

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February 21, 2026 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — The Sandiganbayan has rejected the appeal of a former police colonel who was convicted of graft over the issuance of licenses for more than 100 high-powered rifles, including AK-47s, to four private security companies from August 2011 to April 2013.

In denying the motion, the Sandiganbayan sixth division said the former PNP official, Eduardo Acierto, “lost the remedies” after failing to show up during the promulgation of the case in December 2025.

“Acierto’s failure to appear during the promulgation... was unjustified. As pointed out by the prosecution, he did not even ask the court to appear via videoconference,” reads a part of the five-page resolution issued by Associate Justice Sarah Jane Fernandez on Feb. 18.

Acierto was found guilty of nine counts of violating Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and was sentenced along with nine other former police officials to a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.

The case stemmed from the issuance of licenses for the rifles by the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office from 2011 to 2013.

Some of the firearms, specifically AK-47 rifles, were seized from members of the New People’s Army after a clash with soldiers in Agusan del Sur in 2013, according to earlier reports.

In seeking a reversal of the decision, Acierto said his absence was “not an act of defiance or disrespect to the Court, but a matter of survival.”

Acierto told the court that he had been in hiding since October 2018 not because he was evading criminal prosecution, but because appearing at the court hearings would expose him “to forces that have placed a bounty” on his head.

The bounty was reportedly raised after he submitted an intelligence report identifying several close associates of former president Rodrigo Duterte as major players in the illegal drug trade.