Government anti-terrorism agents seized a cache of firearms following the arrest of a 56-year old man who was caught transporting the loose firearms during an operation in Makati City.
Police Maj. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez, director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said he already ordered a thorough investigation into the activities of suspect Juanito Tanghal, particularly on his possible links with either terror groups or criminal syndicates.
“With the volume of loose firearms confiscated, an ongoing investigation is being conducted to verify if those firearms were used in terroristic activities, gun for hire, and other illegal activities,” said Nartatez.
Nartatez said the operation on Nov. 16 in Barangay Olympia in Makati City was carried out based on intelligence reports on the transport of high-powered firearms. He said Tanghal was caught in the act of transporting the guns.
Among the more than 13 guns seized were assault rifles, a machine gun, Carbines and two handguns.
(photo: NCRPO)
He said the arrest of Tanghal was a result of an operation on Nov. 14 in Angeles City in Pampanga which resulted in the arrest of Santiago Fernandez and confiscation of an assault rifle mounted with a 40mm M203 grenade launcher.
Tanghal, according to Nartatez, attempted to escape during the operation but was later intercepted.
“The NCRPO’s campaign against loose firearms is a continuing effort and there will be no let-up to weed out these contrabands and illegal firearms that seriously affects the current peace and order of the country, notwithstanding the current implementation of the election ban until Nov. 29,” said Nartatez.
“I also solicit the cooperation of the public to remain vigilant and promptly report information or transactions about illegal firearms to the authorities for immediate action”, he added.
The approval of the promotion of more than 100 senior officers were affected by the issues raised in the Napolcom.
Amid rumors of demoralization in the PNP for the long delay in the promotion, Interior Secretary and Napolcom, chairman Benhur Abalos explained that promotion was affected by the restructuring of the PNP under the Republic Act 85511, which mandates the Napolcom)to prepare and submit to Congress a proposed PNP reorganization plan not later than December 31, 1998.
The submitted proposals in 1998, 2008, 2009, and 2011 were not approved.
Another issue was the rank distribution on the reorganization plan raised by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) as opposed to the actual distribution of ranks in the PNP.