GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/23 May) – Police authorities are set to file charges against an alleged police intelligence agent after a raid on his house over the weekend yielded several unlicensed firearms, ammunition and explosives.
Chief Supt. Benjardi Mantele, acting Region 12 police director, said Monday the illegal items were recovered early Saturday at the house of suspect Gualberto Pardillo Gonzaga alias Bert in Dona Soledad
Subdivision of Barangay Labangal here.
He said Gonzaga, who was arrested during the raid, claimed to be an active member of the Philippine National Police with the rank of Police Officer 3.
“We’re still verifying his real identity and the possibility that these confiscated firearms were used by the suspect in illegal activities,” Mantele said in a statement.
Armed with a search warrant, Mantele said elements from various local police units and the Army-led Joint Task Force GenSan swooped in on the residence of Gonzaga and his farmhouse in Alabel town in Sarangani province at around 4am Saturday.
He said the search at the farmhouse yielded no evidence but the raid at the suspect’s house resulted to the confiscation of assorted firearms, ammunition and explosives.
The results of the inventory of the recovered items were temporarily withheld pending an ongoing investigation of their sources or origin, he said.
Mantele said Gonzaga initially claimed that he was a member of a police intelligence unit supposedly based at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame.
He said the suspect presented a PNP identification card (ID) bearing the serial number A232677 and issued on November 20, 2008.
The supposed ID will supposedly expire on September 18, 2011, which is also the bearer’s retirement date, he said.
Mantele said the suspect would be charged with violation of Presidential Decree 1866 as amended by Republic Act 8295 or for illegal possession of firearms, ammunition and explosives. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)