(CNN Philippines) — Around 30 kilograms of missing rail parts belonging to the Philippine National Railways (PNR) were recovered by authorities early Thursday (May 28) in a junk shop along the Pasong Tamo extension in Makati City.
A 17-year-old scavenger was caught by authorities at around 4 a.m. with 10 kilograms of stolen railway parts at the same location where a PNR train was derailed last April 29.
The suspect said he neither stole the railway parts nor did he own the hammer he was carrying. He said he got the metal parts from a construction site.
“Doon po sa mga construction sa riles. Hindi galing sa daan sa riles ng PNR, doon sa construction,” the suspect explained.
[Translation: “(I get them) from a construction site near the railways. They aren’t from the PNR rails, they’re from the construction site.”]
He then pointed the authorities to the junk shop where he sells his haul and, after being assured of legal assistance, decided to identify his supposed cohorts.
The two suspects — Joselito Miseno and Ernie Sanchez — were also caught by police and PNR officials, but both denied the allegations.
Sanchez explained to authorities that he only collects scraps from a nearby river, while Miseno said the rail parts found in his possession were already damaged parts.
“Mga damaged na po yan. Pinagpalitan na nila,” Miseno said.
[Translation: “Those parts are already damaged. They’ve already replaced those parts.”]
No stolen parts here
The junk shop caretaker, on the other hand, denied buying the rail parts from the suspects.
“Pang-gabi nakabili nyan. Pang umaga ako,” said Dominador Olaso, the store owner’s nephew. “Bawal nga samin bumili sa riles.”
[Translation: “The person who bought those parts looks after the shop at night. I’m here only during the day. We’re not allowed to buy railway parts.”]
Roughly 30 kilograms of railway parts were confiscated from the junk shop, which had on hand angle bars and rail clips.
PNR officials said that they will file cases of theft against all three suspects and a violation of the anti-fencing law against the junk shop. Trespassing inside the PNR right of way and getting or selling discard rail parts are illegal acts, they explained.
“Those parts have been audited and it’s illegal to enter the PNR right of way. An amendment in our charter states that we can catch trespassers and what they did is considered trespassing,” said Joseph Allan Dilay, PNR General Manager.
Dilay added that the arrest of the three suspects strengthened authorities’ earlier theories that the derailment was caused by missing and stolen rail parts.
He also confirmed that the PNR will, as scheduled, resume operations on June 15 and that security will be tightened once CCTV cameras are installed.
