CHARGES were filed on Thursday, April 21, against a member of the Philippine Army and his two companions illegal possession of firearms and violation of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) gun ban with the Bacolod City Prosecutor’s Office.
Facing charges are Kim Gavasan, 35, of the Army’s 32nd Company Civil Military Operation based in Danao City, Cebu, and resident of Barangay Sto. Rosario Binalbagan; Franklin Olimpu Jr., 31, a computer technician, of Barangay Salvacion, Murcia; and Bal de la Peña, 33, a tricycle driver, of Escalante City.
The suspects were arrested in an entrapment operation at the South Ceres Terminal in Bacolod City Tuesday morning, April 19. The firearms were transported by Gavasan from Cebu.
Seized from the suspects were locally manufactured copies of a Colt AR15 assault rifle with five magazines and two silencers, an Ingram MAC-11 machine pistol with two magazines, a KG9 machine pistol with two magazines, two .357-caliber revolvers, two Black Widow 9mm revolvers, and two .45-caliber pistols with six magazines, four live .45-caliber rounds and four live 9mm rounds.
Inspector Renoli Bagayao, head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Bacolod City (CIDG-Bacolod), said that along with CIDG-Negros Occidental operatives, they also recovered assorted firearms from Olimpu’s Murcia residence in a follow-up operation conducted at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 20.
Police recovered from Olimpu’s house a .22-caliber pistol, a silencer, and various rifles.
A separate complaint will be filed against Olimpu, Bagayao said.
Gunrunning
The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) has intensified its intelligence monitoring to intercept individuals involved in gunrunning activities.
Chief Inspector Dianne Catedral, public information officer of BCPO, said on Thursday that policemen have been assigned to bus terminals and sea ports to monitor the possible entry of illegal firearms.
Catedral said BCPO was coordinating with CIDG-Bacolod to monitor suspects operating in Negros Island Region.