Brgy. chief, councilman nabbed with guns, drugs

A BARANGAY captain and a barangay councilman of a northern town were arrested on Thursday after police confiscated unlicensed firearms inside their houses.

Rene Olivar, barangay captain of Lamintac Norte of Medellin town, and barangay councilman Rex Bateran were turned over to the Cebu Provincial Police Office yesterday after their arrest on Thursday night.

Supt. Joie Yape, Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) chief, said that they served a search warrant issued by Executive Judge Jacinto Fajardo Jr. of the Regional Trial Court Branch 66 for violation of Republic Act 10591 for possessing unlicensed firearms against Olivar and Bateran.

Yape said that Olivar, 55, who is also the Association of Barangay Councils president of the town, was caught with an unlicensed .45 caliber pistol.

Senior Insp. Nazareno Emia, deputy chief of PIB, said the barangay captain was also a drug surrenderer but had been in PIB’s watch list of level 1 high-value targets in their drug war.

Emia said that level 1 high-value targets are those who are government officials being monitored for having links to illegal drugs.

Olivar, however, denied the drug allegations against him and told Cebu Daily News that he only forgot to renew the license of his firearm, which he planned to do this month.

He also said the police caught him with the gun before he could renew its license.

Yape also said that Bateran, 40, was caught with four sachets and a medium pack of suspected shabu weighing 5.05 grams with an estimated worth of P90,000.

Yape added that Bateran was also caught with an unlicensed .38 caliber revolver inside his house.