NEWSFLASH

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RUDY FERNANDEZ HAS MISSING PACC GUN -- BELLO

Manila, April 17, 1998 - Actor Rudy Fernandez will be asked by the Department of Justice to explain how a Colt Gold Cup .45 pistol owned by the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission became licensed to his name.

Justice Secretary Silvestre Bello said Philippine National Police Director General Santiago Alino reported that some of the 95 short firearms bought by the PACC under Vice President Joseph Estrada were now in the hands of private individuals, including Fernandez.

Bello said the identities of the other civilian were still being checked. Reports quoted Estrada as having admitted that he still had the guns and would return these to the PACC on June 30, his last day in office as Vice President.

Bello said Estrada has no right to keep the PACC firearms, which were bought by the PACC from the United States in 1992 to improve the anti-crime group's capabilities against organized crime.