Police arrest retired Canadian journalist

CEBU, Philippines - Police arrested a retired Canadian journalist for carrying a caliber .45 caliber pistol on Villa Rojas Street, Barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City Tuesday afternoon.

Personnel of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, Mobile Patrol Group (MPG), and Fuente Police Station arrested John Holdridge Pope, 64, temporarily residing in Barangay Guadalupe.

Superintendent Arnel Banzon, SWAT chief, said the suspect was arrested at 5:15 p.m. while he was waiting outside the clinic of Dr. Reynold and Elaine Rafols.

In an abs-cbnnews.com report, the clinic is at the Borromeo Building, located at the back of Cebu Doctors Hospital on Osmeña Boulevard.

The Rafols couple revealed the Canadian may have a grudge on them because they filed a case of malicious mischief against him, the report further said.

Banzon said his men, led by SPO2 Lyndon Solatorio, responded to the area after receiving a report from their base control about an armed person. Banzon negated reports that the suspect went wild.

The police eventually arrested the suspect and endorsed him to Fuente police.

Insp. Isagani Pugoy, deputy chief of Fuente Police Station, said upon arriving at the area, they identified themselves to the suspect as police officers but instead of heeding, the latter ran away.

This prompted the policemen to give a chase and eventually accosted Pope and recovered the gun. The drunken suspect, Pugoy said, failed to present documents that would prove that the gun is licensed. Two magazines and three live bullets for the same caliber were also confiscated from him.

The foreigner, who claimed the pistol was for self-defense, will face a case of illegal possession of firearms.

Pope, who’s been living here for 14 years, said he was the same person who filed a complaint against the Guadalupe Police Station chief, Chief Insp. Mario Monilar in October last year.

He stated then that Monilar should be investigated for disregarding his health condition. That time, he was arrested and briefly detained for trespass to dwelling and violation of the Violence Against Women Act.

Pope also filed a complaint against Assistant City Prosecutor Oscar Capacio for charging him P200 as notarization fee.

Capacio, who denied the allegation, has said Pope has been filing several nuisance cases against persons he had disagreement with. —(FREEMAN)