ILOILO – Mayor Ermelita Salcedo of the municipality of Sara was released several hours after she was taken into police custody when her house was raided for loose firearms in Barangay Poblacion Ilawod, Sara town on Wednesday.
“We have no evidence to detain her so we released her. The subject of our search warrant was her husband Neptali,” clarified Senior Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) director, yesterday.
Salcedo was released around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, said Tayaba.
Her at-large husband, however, would be charged with illegal gun possession, said Tayaba.
Among the firearms seized from the Salcedo house were an M14 rifle and an Ultimax 100 Mark 311 rifle.
“These two firearms are only issued to government forces to include the Philippine National Police and Army. Bakit may ganyang baril siya at sino ang may ari nito? These are high-powered firearms,” said Tayaba.
Also recovered from the Salcedo house were a 12-gauge shotgun, AK47 rifle, three .45 pistols, and assorted bullets.
Neptali, former mayor of Sara, was not around during Wednesday’s predawn raid.
The search warrant was issued by Judge Angilyn Mary Quimpo-Sale of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 106 in Quezon City.
Tayaba said Mayor Salcedo asserted that the firearms seized were licensed. But he said no pertinent documents were presented to the police on Wednesday.
On the other hand, the arrested 16-year-old live-in partner of Mayor Salcedo’s stepson Nerio “Ricky” Salcedo was turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Tayaba said the teenager would be charged with illegal gun possession because she was caught with a .22 rifle during the raid.
The raid on the Salcedo house was one of the 13 simultaneous police operations against loose firearms in the 5th District.
Tayaba said Ricky and the mayor’s grandson Nixon Salcedo Jr. were shot by policemen for putting up a fight. The two died.
Aside from Sara, the other raids were staged in the municipalities of Lemery, Banate and Estancia.
The raids were carried out by the Iloilo Police Provincial Office, Iloilo City Police Office, the Police Regional Office 6’s Regional Intelligence Division, and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
Tayaba said the following would also be charged with illegal gun possession because of the recoveries in their respective housed during the raids:
* Nestor Arante, Barangay Bariga, Banate – .45 pistol black holster and bullets
* Frank George Sanson (manager of Estancia fish port), Barangay Cano-an, Estancia – five sachets of shabu, digital weighing scale, .45 pistol, holster, assorted ammunition, empty bullet shell of caliber .45 pistol
* Noel Salcedo, Barangay Lanciola, Sara – two .45 pistols, seven empty bullets shells of a .45 and assorted ammunition and magazines
* Nixon Salcedo Sr., Barangay Nagsulang, Lemery – a grenade, .45 pistol, assorted bullets, bulletproof vest
Only Arante, however, was arrested. Sanson, Noel Salcedo and Nixon Salcedo Sr. were not in their houses during the raids.
Noel was a brother-in-law of Mayor Salcedo while Nixon Sr. was a son of Neptali from a previous relationship./PN
