CEBU CITY -- An airport policeman was arrested in a raid after firearms were allegedly found inside his home in Barangay Dawis Norte, Carmen town, Sunday morning.
Corporal Arnulfo Hermoso Morales, a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics team at the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA), was caught by a team from the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) led by Police Officer 3 Reynaldo Solante.
Solante told reporters that their raid, helped by some operatives from the Special Reaction Unit, was based on a search warrant issued on Dec. 16 by Regional Trial Court Branch 25 Judge Edito Enemicio.
He said they applied for the warrant after they received complaints from neighbors that Morales often fired his gun indiscriminately.
"He allegedly fires his gun when he is drunk," Solante said in Cebuano by phone.
Three barangay councilors and a secretary witnessed the raid in Sitio Riverside at 6:45 a.m.
Police said they recovered a .45 pistol with 13 bullets, .9mm pistol with 209 bullets, .22 rifle with 58 bullets, one hand grenade and two rifle grenades from Morales.
They also recovered 99 bullets for cal. 5.56mm, a Batangas knife, an ice pick, an old police badge, a magazine loaded with 10 cal. 45 pistol bullets and eight empty magazines.
Before PIB got the search warrant and conducted the raid, Solante said they checked the Firearms, Explosives, Security Agencies and Guards Supervision Section (Fesagss) Central Visayas office if Morales has licenses for his firearms.
They found none.
Morales blamed politics for his arrest. He said his older brother works at the Carmen municipal hall.
He denied he scares his neighbors by firing his gun, saying he only uses his gun when practicing at a firing range near his home.
According to Solante, Morales has a pending murder case after he allegedly shot an ex-convict last year and an administrative case at the MCIA.
Last May, Morales reportedly shot someone. But the case was settled outside the court. Two years ago, he was also allegedly involved in a shootout with policemen in Cebu City.
Morales failed to show the licenses for his firearms.
However, he gave the police his memorandum order and receipt showing that his firearms are government-issued. But Solante said Morales's .45 pistol is paltik, or an improvised unit.
Morales, who is set to face charges of illegal possession of firearms, is temporarily detained at the Consolacion Police Station.
Solante said based on the amended Republic Act 9516, which imposes penalties for illegal possession of grenades and other explosives, Morales cannot post bail. (KAL of Sun
