7 men nabbed, firearms seized in Mandaue raid

Residents  in barangay Paknaan, Mandaue City sighed in relief after  the arrest of seven men  who allegedly disturbed the neighborhood by firing gunshots and pretending to be military officers.

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided a bunkhouse past 6 a.m. yesterday.

The NBI also seized six shotguns, two .38 revolvers and assorted ammunition.

They arrested  Alberto Nantis, Dionelito Bacus, Pastor Bulandrina, Jaime Panelto, Maximiano Gesulga, and Robert Pantonial who hail from Ozamiz City in Mindanao.

The seven men will be charged before the Mandaue City Prosecutors’ Office for violating Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.

A search warrant issued by Executive Judge Soliver Peras of the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City was used in the raid.

“They allegedly introduced themselves as military men to residents in Paknaan,” he said and disturbed the barangay by indiscrisminately firing guns.

Nantis, in an interview at the NBI-7 stockade, said they did not do anything wrong.

He said the firearms were  owned by security guards, and that it was a different group who was responsible for indiscriminate firing in the area.

Nantis said he, Bacus and Pantonial were hired as  guards by a security agency based in Mandaue City but have  yet to receive their certifications and licenses.

“Dili man mi tigdala og armas. Wala pa mi license kay bag-o pa mi nga gi-hire. (We don’t bring guns. We don’t  have license to carry guns for now because we were just hired as security guards),” Nantis told reporters yesterday.

Nantis also claimed that two of his companions—Bulandrina and Panelto—are pastors.

NBI-7 Assistant Director Augusto Isidoro said the operation was made after they received complaints that the suspects  threatened residents with firearms.

Upon verification with the Firearms and Explosives Office, the NBI-7 learned that the suspects were not authorized to possess firearms.

Isidoro said the suspects also could not present any proof that they are security guards or members of a security agency.

The NBI-7 said two companions of the group were able to escape.

Isidoro said the suspects, who hail from Ozamiz City, possessed military uniforms and jackets.

“They did not resist arrest when we conducted the operation,” he said.