On 24 September 2016, the Anti-Transnational Crime Unit (ATCU) of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP CIDG), acting upon a tip-off, carried out a raid of a residential building in the Barangay West Crame neighbourhood in San Juan City. During it, the police discovered an illegal arsenal of assault weapons, including grenade launchers, M14 and M16 rifles, as well as ammunition and explosives. The total value of the cache was estimated at 6 million Philippine peso (approx. 124,500 USD).
According to the police chief, these armaments were prepared to be handed over to the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), a militant separatist faction designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf or in support of”, “supplying, selling or transferring arms and related materiel to” or “otherwise supporting acts or activities of” Al-Qaida. Additionally, the Abu Sayyaf Group is designated as a terrorist organisation by many national governments, including Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. The police chief noted that, according to their information, Isa's group and some Abu Sayyaf members have been staying in Manila since August 2016 "to buy a cache of guns, explosive components, and ammunition upon orders of unidentified [Abu Sayyaf Group] commander”. These arms, as per the police reports, were intended to be used to strengthen the ASG forces in Sulu and Basilan provinces, as well as to intensify their kidnapping and bombing operations. The police further noted that most of the seized weapons and ammunition had been traced back to the government arsenal.
During the raid, the police also made an arrest of Mr. Unding Kenneth Isa, an alleged leader of a gun-running syndicate, as well as his three purported accomplices, later identified as Hja Risdimona Isa, Aljamer Akarab Mandih and Hurbin Alhi Sahibul. However, all of them, except for Mr. Unding Kenneth Isa, were released due to lack of evidence, since Mr. Isa was the sole subject of the search warrant.
These facts became the foundation of criminal cases No. 159501-SJ to 159517-SJ that were brought before the Regional Trial Court Branch 264, Pasig City.
All subject firearms (including M203 grenade launchers, M14 and M16 rifles), ammunition and explosives with the total estimated cost of 6 million Philippine peso were forfeited in favour of the government.
The case was adjudicated in one proceeding by Regional Trial Court of the Philippines, Branch 264 (Pasig City). In the legal system of the Philippines, the Regional Trial Courts represent the highest level of first-instance (trial) courts and deal with serious crimes.
In the first proceeding, the defence of Mr. Isa claimed that he did not own the weapons in question and was a visitor in the house where the weapons were seized. However, the Pasig City Regional Trial Court rejected this reasoning as devoid of evidence, siding with the Public Prosecutor and finding the defendant guilty beyond reasonable doubt on all 16 counts of violating R.A. 10591 (Illegal possession of firearms), as well as on one count of violating P.D. 1866, as amended by R.A. 8294 and R.A. 9516 (Illegal possession of explosives).
The sentence prescribed by the court for each offence under R.A. 10591 was reclusion perpetua ("permanent imprisonment") for a term from twenty years and one day to thirty years. For the offence under P.D. 1866, as amended by R.A. 8294 and R.A. 9516, the court prescribed a sentence for a term from ten years and one day of prision mayor (type of imprisonment specific to the legal system of the Philippines) to twelve years and one day of reclusion temporal ("temporary imprisonment"), as well as to a fine of fifty thousand pesos.
Therefore, the total minimum duration of imprisonment prescribed by the court was over 330 years, making it a de facto life sentence.
Regional Trial Court, National Capital Judicial Region, Branch 264, Pasig City
Please note that the below document represents an abridged version of the court's judgment. UNODC is currently seeking to procure the full file.
The process of “The Philippines vs Unding Kenneth Isa” presents a significant landmark in the body of the Philippine case law with regard to the national efforts in countering the Abu Sayyaf Group. This case resulted in the first major-scale conviction of an arms trafficker purportedly affiliated with ASG since 2014, when the group’s leader Isnilon Hapilon pledged allegiance to the ISIL/Daesh and announced the creation of the “Islamic State – East Asia Province”.
Furthermore, this case also presents an interesting example of the treatment of linkages between organised crime and terrorism in a national legal system. As mentioned earlier, the police held a strong suspicion that the arms cache collected by Isa was meant for ASG militants - indeed, CIDG acting director Chief Supt. Roel Obusan even noted that in July 2016, the police received information that Mr. Isa and a certain “Wahid” were engaging in gunrunning activities for a group that supplies firearms to the ASG in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
If conclusive evidence of this connection was presented to the prosecution, they could additionally seek to charge Mr. Isa with being a terrorist accomplice who "cooperated in the execution of either the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism”. This charge under section 5 of the Human Security Act - the main counter-terrorism law of the Philippines - would entail a further penalty of up to 20 years of imprisonment. However, it seems that guided by the present evidence, the prosecutors chose to pursue charges based only on Mr. Isa’s criminal activities (illegal possession of firearms and explosives), rather than on his potential complicity to a terrorist offence under the Human Security Act - a fact that could be indicative of the high standard of proof ascribed in the Philippine legal system to terrorism offences.