CEBU CITY – The Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) on Monday clarified that the raid conducted in the ancestral home of the mayor and vice mayor in San Francisco town of Camotes island has nothing to do with politics.
According to CPPO director, Col. Manuel Abrugena, the raid in the house of Mayor Aly Arquillano and his brother, Vice Mayor Alejandro “Al” Arquillano Jr., last Friday, April 5, was conducted by the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) by virtue of a search warrant.
“Wala po itong kaugnayan sa politika (It has nothing to do with politics) because when we received report na may baril sila na walang lisensiya (that they have unlicensed guns) we applied for a (search) warrant,” Abrujena told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Abrugena made the statement after the Arquillano brothers, through their lawyer, retired Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge Meinrado Paredes, filed a motion for bail in a court in Danao city.
Earlier, Paredes said the crime happened outside of the court's jurisdiction.
RTC Branch 60 Judge Leopoldo Cañete, who issued the warrant, is based in the town of Barili, which is more than 100 kilometers away from the town of San Francisco in Camotes island.
Barili is a bailiwick of Cebu’s third district Representative Gwendolyn Garcia who is running for governor in Cebu province, while San Francisco under the Arquillanos is supportive of the Duranos, political foes of the Garcias.
Liloan Mayor Christina Garcia-Frasco is the daughter of Gwendolyn, while the husband, former Cebu Port Authority (CPA) commissioner Duke Frasco, is running against the Durano bigwig in Danao, Mayor Ramonito Durano III, for congressional seat.
Abrugena explained that the rule on search warrant allowed certain exceptions on the territoriality, “for as long as the subject is located within the territorial region of the issuing RTC,” and the warrant is necessary for immediate implementation.
The chief of the provincial police here also said that the RTC is a court of general jurisdiction so that the warrants it issued could cover the entire region.
In a press briefing over the weekend, Paredes also said the evidence confiscated were “fruit of the poisonous tree” because the search was conducted while the witnesses from the area were not yet around.
But according to Abrugena, Paredes’ claim is not true and all the firearms and the grenade were confiscated in the presence of the mayor, the vice mayor, and the witnesses.
He also said they are not singling out the Arquillanos, as the CPPO is still validating politicians and other personalities who are allegedly keeping with them unlicensed firearms or private armed goons, now that the May 13 election is near.
“We have been receiving reports na may politicians po na may iniingatan na lose firearms (that there are politicians who are keeping with them lose firearms). We have been continuously validating the information we received. Once the reports are validated, we will apply for search warrants,” he said.
Brothers Aly and Alejandro Jr. were arrested after the PIB headed by Police Capt. Alejandro Batobalonos raided their house in Poblacion, San Francisco in Camotes island and found one .22-caliber rifle, one .45-caliber pistol, one AR-15, and a grenade.
On Monday, a court in Danao heard the motion of bail filed by the Arquillanos.
The police earlier said the cases against the brothers are not bailable because an explosive (grenade) was confiscated in the raid. (PNA)
