KIDAPAWAN CITY – Police in the North Cotabato town of Makilala arrested a businessman for illegal possession of firearms on Wednesday.
Senior Supt. Maximo Layugan, North Cotabato police provincial director, identified the suspect as Louie Catotal Pineda, 44, a resident of Barangay Dagupan, Makilala, North Cotabato.
Layugan said police manning a checkpoint in Barangay Poblacion noticed Pineda acting suspiciously as he approached the road barrier at about 10 a.m. on board a white Nissan pickup with license plate TNO-687.
Chief Insp. Johnny Rick Medel, Makilala town police chief, said Pineda failed to show documents that indicate his legal possession of a Colt Super .38-caliber pistol with ammunition.
“He (Pineda) claimed the firearm was for self-defense as a businessman,” Layugan told newsmen here in an interview.
Far-flung areas of Makilala town, particularly those at the foot of Mt. Apo, commonly arm themselves against the communist New Peoples’ Army (NPA) who regularly prey on businessmen for "revolutionary taxes". (PNA)
NoCot trader nabbed for unlicensed gun
By Edwin Fernandez
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