Arquillano brothers detained in Danao City Jail

Operatives from PIB arrested San Francisco Mayor Aly Arquillano (left) and the town’s vice mayor Al Arquillano after they confiscated firearms and a hand grenade from their house during an April 4 raid.| Photo courtesy of PIB

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Arrested San Francisco town Mayor Aly Arquillano and brother Vice Mayor Alfredo Arquillano, are now detained at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP)-run Danao City Jail.

Retired Judge Meinrado Paredes, legal counsel of the Arquillano brothers, said the court granted their petition for confinement of his clients to the BJMP-run facility after a hearing this afternoon, April 8.

Charges for illegal possession of firearms and illegal possession of explosives were filed against the Arquillanos before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Danao City on this morning, Monday.

Read more: Danao City court to hear motion to bail of Arquillano brothers this afternoon

The top officials of San Francisco town in Camotes Island north of Cebu, were arrested by operatives of the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) of the Cebu Police Provincial Office (CPPO) last Thursday, April 4, after the police found several firearms and a hand grenade in the brothers’ rooms during the raid in their ancestral house.

Read more: San Francisco mayor, vice mayor in trouble for possession of firearms, explosives

Mayor Arquillano is running for vice mayor while Vice Mayor Arquillano is seeking election for mayor in the May 2019 midterm elections.

Read more: Retired Judge Paredes to ask court to quash search warrant vs Arquillano brothers

The camp of the Arquillanos also filed a motion for bail before Branch 25 of Danao City RTC. However, the camp of the police has yet to submit a reply to the court before a hearing for the appeal for their temporary liberty will be set.

“We filed the petition for bail on the basis that the evidence against them is not strong,” Paredes told CDN Digital in a phone interview on Monday, April 8.

Paredes earlier claimed that the firearms and ammunition were only planted.

Paredes also questioned the inclusion of Aly Arquillano in the illegal possession of explosives case considering that the hand grenade was only supposedly found in Alfredo Arquillano’s room. 

“Kanang illegal possession of firearms is bailable. Ang non-bailable kay kanang possession of explosives. Ang kanang granada wala na nakuha sa kwarto ni Aly Arquillano, but didto sa kwarto ni Al so nganong gilabot man siya (Aly) sa kaso (illegal possession of explosives),” Paredes said.

(The illegal possession of firearms charge is bailable, but the possession of explosives is not. The grenade was not found in Aly Aquillano’s room but in the room of Al, so why is Aly included in the case (illegal possession of explosives.)