Ex-GenSan councilor nabbed for possession of explosive

GENERAL SANTOS CITY--Police said they arrested a former city councilor here following the recovery of an explosive during a raid at his office on Tuesday afternoon.

Elements from the city police’s mobile force company, led by Supt. Geovanni Ladeo, arrested businessman Rodrigo “Boy” Olarte during a search operation at his office in Purok Magsaysay, Barangay Labangal past 3 p.m.

During the search, Ladeo said they found a grenade in one of the drawers inside Olarte’s office, which is attached to his home.

The operating team also confiscated three firearms that were reportedly unlicensed from the former official’s security guards, he said.

He said the security guards failed to present the necessary documents for the seized .38 caliber revolver with six live bullets, 12-gauge shotgun with four bullets and a loaded 9mm pistol.

Police said Olarte and the security guards will be charged with violation of Republic Act (RA) 9516 or illegal possession of explosive and RA 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.

Olarte, who was a recipient of the Gawad Geny Lopez Bayaning Pilipino Award in 2010, is the founding chair of the Katotohanan Pagkakaisa at Serbisyo (KPA), a group fighting for land rights for the urban poor sector.

He has since spearheaded efforts in reclaiming a family estate here that was previously sold by a relative using supposed fake titles.

Olarte was elected as city councilor for two straight terms from 1995 to 2001.

Benjamin Sumog-oy, convenor of human rights group In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement here, condemned the raid and the supposed recovery of the grenade from the table drawer of one of Olarte’s employees.

“Unfortunately for the police, the hand grenade has a police mark. But this grenade is no longer accessible to Boy Olarte and his lawyer,” he noted in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

Sumog-oy, who visited Olarte at the Makar police station, said the grenade’s serial number was not indicated in the inventory paper.

“The possibility that another unit will be presented is not remote,” he said.

Following Olarte’s arrest, his supporters massed up at the gates of the police station. (PNA)