DAVAO City Police Office (DCPO) Director Alexander Tagum confirmed that the owner of the black bag filled with guns confiscated at Sitio Licanan, Lasang, Davao City, is connected with the New People's Army (NPA).
The suspect was identified as Arnold Juayon, who initially rode the passenger bus to Davao City all the way from Lipata, Surigao City.
His image was captured by a closed-circuit television camera while disembarking the bus before approaching the Task Force Davao checkpoint.
"Ang affiliation niya base sa mga lumalabas sa intelligence natin, na ang background ng taong na-identify (Based on our intelligence report, he is) clearly affiliated with the New People’s Army," Senior Superintendent Tagum said.
The firearms seized at the checkpoint were one Ingram Machine Pistol with silencer, seven .45 pistols with nine magazines, and cache of high-powered firearms hidden inside a black bag which was traced by a sniffing dog at the bus compartment.
The seized items sparked the initial suspicion of DCPO that these were indeed intended to arm NPA's Special Partisan Unit or the so-called Sparrow Unit.
The Sparrow Unit is a faction of NPA that is responsible for the assassination of government security forces and civilians.
"Obviously, with the appearance of the firearms ito'y galing sa hukay dahil my kalawang at ito'y na-detect ng K9. Ibig sabihin, hindi ito bago. Ito'y ginagamit na before. This is intended for hit squad ng NPA," Tagum said on Monday.
He said that normally, the guns they intercept from gunrunning syndicates are well-greased, unused and wrapped in plastic as these are intended for sale.
Tagum said the NPA had their earlier pronouncement that they will revive their Sparrow Unit to support their illegal extortion activity.
Charges have been filed against Juayon for illegal possession of firearms and Tagum said they are now waiting for the court to release the warrant of arrest after two months.
"We will give you a clear picture pag lumabas na ang warrant of arrest para humingi ng tulong para malaman kung nasaan ang suspect na ito (if the warrant of arrest so we can ask help to identify where the suspect is)," he said.
He added that continuing intelligence monitoring have been conducted to locate the suspect.
Tagum also said they are looking into the possibility if the suspect has cohorts inside the city who will be his companion in the illegal operation.