Agents of Martial Law-Special Action Group (ML-SAG) confiscated two long firearms, M4 and AK47 rifles, and five assorted handguns including calibers .45 and .38 pistols, inside the residences of Jameloding Tago in Zone 5, Barangay Bonbon, this city, said Captain Joe Patrick Martinez, spokesperson of the Philippine Army’s Fourth Infantry Division.
Tago is living in a compound with his family and his brother Jabar, who lives
in a separate but identical house. The compound also has a warehouse containing bundles of used clothing, which is the brothers’ business, Capt. Martinez said.
Jabar was not around during the raid.
Last February, two motorcycle-riding men drove by Jabar Marketing, a store that sells used clothing within the Cogon Market area, and shot one of its employees who was killed on the spot. The perpetrators were also gunned down by a still unidentified person.
Investigators suspect the shooting outside the store owned by the Tagos may have a connection to the political tension in the town of Pantar, Lanao del Norte where Jabar ran for mayor against Mohammad Exchan Limbona, who was killed in an ambush in Iligan City last December.
The ML-SAG team conducted the simultaneous raids by virtue of search warrants issued by a local judge for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
Chief Inspector Noel Oclarit, CIDG-10 chief investigator, said the ML-SAG brought Tago, his wife, and a relative to the CIDG-10 headquarters in Barangay Patag, for questioning.
Martinez said Tago surrendered two .45 caliber pistols kept at the Jabar Marketing, aside from those taken inside his house.
Tago also presented permits for the seized and surrendered firearms but Martinez said “these (papers) are still subject for verification.”
Lawyer Anthony Ponce de Leon, the Tagos’ legal counsel, said his clients were taken by surprise of the raid.
“Nagulat lang sila, alam naman nila na licensed yung guns nila (They (his client and his family) were shocked because they know their guns are licensed,” he said.
De Leon said the firearms were for his clients’ protection as one of them entered politics in Lanao del Norte and for their business.
When asked what is the legal action of the Tagos, he said his clients will go through the procedures. “We will see what they (authorities) will file.”
As far as he knows, de Leon said all of the firearms are licensed.
In another raid, ML-SAG agents also recovered three handguns and a long firearm inside the house of Jalaludin Bacaraman Lao at Mindanao Homes in Pagatpat.
Lao was not around but the ML-SAG invited his wife to answer queries. His wife failed to submit gun permits to the ML-SAG.
Martinez said Lao is an alleged gunrunner who is suspected to have provided lawless elements with weapons.
Lao’s name surfaced after about 8,000 rounds of live ammunition for M16 and .30 caliber rifles were confiscated in a warehouse in Barangay Camaman-an here last June 23.
The ML-SAG is composed of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-10 (CIDG-10), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-10 (PDEA-10), Task Force Oro, and other units from the military. (Jigger J. Jerusalem/PNA)
0 Comments