ILOILO City – A gunrunning suspect was arrested in Barangay Dacutan, Dumangas, Iloilo.
From his house, Arnold Abaygar, 48, was taken to the Dumangas police station.
Operatives of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) raided Abaygar’s house around 1:30 p.m. on Monday. They recovered a .45 pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun, a .22 revolver, and assorted bullets.
The search warrant was issued by Judge Vincent Go of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 68, said Chief Inspector Jonathan Pinuela, IPPO chief intelligence officer.
Aside from alleged gunrunning, neighbors claimed Abaygar frequently fired his guns indiscriminately, said Pinuela.
“He admitted having no gun permit. He also said he helped friends dispose their firearms. He was the one looking for buyers,” said Pinuela.
Abaygar faces a charge for illegal gun possession.
There are an estimated 77,000 loose firearms in Western Visayas and 18,000 of these are in the possession of criminals such as guns-for-hire, according to the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6).
The ownership of the 59,000 other guns could be easily traced, said Chief Superintendent John Bulalacao, regional police director.
These were registered firearms but their licenses expired and their owners failed to seek renewal, said Bulalacao, citing the records of the PRO-6’s Firearms and Explosives Office.
Many of these gun owners were politicians and businessmen, he added, and they were from northern and central Iloilo province.
Policemen would be knocking on the doors of these gun owners and remind them to renew their licenses.
“To avoid arrest for illegal gun possession, the owners may turn over their guns to their police stations for safekeeping while they were processing the renewal of their licenses,” said Bulalacao.
Those in possession of unlicensed guns risk being charged with violation of the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act of 2002.
The law defines a loose gun as “an unregistered firearm, an obliterated or altered firearm, firearm which has been lost or stolen, illegally manufactured firearms, registered firearms in the possession of an individual other than the licensee and those with revoked licenses in accordance with the rules and regulations.”
If the gun owners were not anymore interested to renew their licenses, they could just surrender their firearms, according to Bulalacao.
“Talagang aarestohin ka namin kahit pulitiko ka pa,” added the police director.
The PRO-6 has launched the campaign “Tokhang Kontra Ginadumili-an nga Pusil” in a bid to curb the proliferation of illegal guns.
Bulalacao expressed concern that loose guns may be used during the 2019 midterm elections.
While the bulk of the 77,000 loose firearms had records with the PRO-6, the unregistered others may be from other areas or were paltik (homemade) and used by lawless elements./PN
