Illegal gun raps vs. ex-Nadsu head
Former transport leader Alex Hugo was charged yesterday with illegal possession of firearms after he was found keeping a .45 cal. pistol during a raid in his house in Argao town last Wednesday.
Though the case is bailable, Hugo was still detained at the Cebu Provincial Detention and
Regional Trial Court Branch 7 judge Simeon Dumdum issued a commitment order to the CPDRC against Hugo after his probation was cancelled for violations of the rules. Hugo failed to report to his probation officer since 2003 after he has gone into hiding and reportedly joined the New People’s Army as front committee secretary of the mid-south.
Dumdum convicted Hugo in 2001 for illegal logging and sentenced him to four years imprisonment, but he availed of probation.
The Regional Mobile Group yesterday filed the illegal possession case against Hugo before the Provincial Prosecutors Office where it was immediately elevated to the court.
Hugo denied owning the gun allegedly recovered in his house in barangay Gutlang, Argao, during the raid and said it was planted, even as he said he respected his arresting officers and even thanked them for allegedly treating him well.
Hugo said he only owns a replica of an M14 rifle which he used as a prop during the anti-government demonstrations he used to stage when he was yet active in the Nagkahiusang Drayber sa Sugbo.
After alleged threats on his life he allegedly decided to lay low.
Although he did not point to the mayor as the one responsible for the threat of his life Hugo said he did not have any other enemy.
Cebu Provincial Police Director Senior Supt. Carmelo Valmoria said Hugo is not a threat despite his position in the NPA.
“No. He is not a threat,” Valmoria said.
Rudy Laconza, one of the former leaders in Nadsu, said he was shocked by the arrest of Hugo saying that he has not seen him after they split up due to the conflict regarding the SM terminal sometime in 2002.
But Laconza said he heard that Hugo joined the NPA.
“Wala man siya’y laing ma adto-an mao nang mikuyog nalang gyud siya og balik,” Laconza said.
Information from the military alleged that Hugo was part of the rebel band that had an encounter with government soldiers in barangay Magsilaw, Guihulngan, Negros Oriental, last March.
Valmoria said that the communist had previous plans to expand their group in the mountainous parts of
“Wala gyud na sila maka-take off sa ilang
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia recently renewed her declaration for an all-out war against insurgents, whom she considers as common criminals.
Her declaration, followed later by a similar one from the national officials, was met with fierce opposition from militant groups like Bayan Muna.
Part of the campaign was the immediate establishment of a Provincial Anti-Insurgency Task Force in collaboration with the military and municipal governments.
She also provided police jeeps, communication equipment and other assistance to the military, and allocated P10 million for the construction of a permanent headquarters for the CPPO. She also created a Special Reaction Unit, the first in the country, to respond to any emergency and crisis. — Fred P. Languido and Garry B. Lao/BRP
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