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Monday, March 08, 2004
ATO-Cebu chief, wife 'trafficked' guns, caught
DAVAO -- A ranking official of the Air Transportation Office (ATO) and his wife were caught in a police checkpoint in Calinan town, Davao del Sur Sunday morning, allegedly bringing 13 guns to be sold in Davao City and Sta. Cruz town.
Manuel Matig-a, 60, and his wife Miguela were begging for mercy as they told the chief of the Regional Mobile Group (RMG) in Region 11 that low income forced them into gun-running.
It was their third delivery of handguns to Davao City, the couple reportedly told investigators.
Matig-a is officer-in-charge of the ATO power plant at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. He lives with his wife in Danao City, which hosts a thriving gunmaking industry.
The firearms seized from them include a .45 pistol and 12 .38 revolvers, which were reportedly wrapped in plastic and placed inside a small sack.
Matig-a reportedly hired an L300 van from Cagayan de Oro City to transport him and his wife to Sta. Cruz town, but as they reached Calinan proper at 10 a.m., they were stopped by a checkpoint headed by Senior Insp. Antonio Alverio.
Supt. Aaron Aquino, RMG Region 11 chief, said they have been doing random checkpoints as a deterrent to crime, particularly robbery and attempts to slip firearms to Davao City and nearby towns with the onset of the election period.
He said the couple was supposed to deliver five of the .38 revolvers to a certain Mercado, the son of a deceased gunsmith in Sta. Cruz, at P3,500 each. The .45 pistol was to be sold at P9,000.
Aquino said that during the investigation, the couple identified their buyers the first two times they slipped handguns into Davao undetected. But Aquino refused to divulge the names, pending follow-up operations.
He said the couple had been under surveillance for some time.
At the RMG 11 office, Matig-a fell to the floor, feigning a heart attack when photographers and television cameramen trained their cameras on him, while his wife wailed and asked forgiveness from Aquino.
He said Matig-a reasoned out that his salary was barely enough to buy milk and rice, which forced him and his wife into selling firearms.
The couple will be charged with illegal possession of firearms and violation of the gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections. Raquel C. Bagnol/Rex C. Otero/AIV
(March 8, 2004 issue)
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