Gun ban campaign nets village official, driver

A VILLAGE official is in hot water after he and a habal-habal driver were arrested for gun ban violation in the province of Zamboanga del Sur, a police official announced Saturday.

Zamboanga Peninsula Police Spokesman Ariel Huesca said the village official was arrested inside a videoke bar around 9 p.m. Friday in the village of Poblacion, Margosatubig town.

Huesca named the arrested village official as Renato Asagra, 49, Kolot village, and Bobby Nawe, 41, a driver of a motorcycle for hire locally known as habal-habal.

Huesca said the policemen of Margosatubig led by Inspector Jonathan De Castro were conducting mobile patrol when they received were informed that a customer inside the videoke house located at wharf area is armed with a handgun.

De Castro and his men proceeded to the videoke house and noticed Nawe had hurriedly passed his sling bag to Asagra, he said.

The patrolling policemen found out that the sling bag contains a caliber .45 pistol without pertinent documents in an inspection, he said.

Nawe and Asagra were detained while appropriate charges are set to be filed against them to include violation of the election gun ban, he said.

The election gun ban took effect nationwide last January 13 and will remain in effect until June 13.(Bong Garcia)