Comelec faces dilemma over US soldier caught with gun

GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) can’t figure how to deal with the case of an American airman who was held in a bar for carrying a firearm in violation of the election gun ban.

Michael Abas, Comelec regional director for Region 12, said there was no police record of the case involving MSgt. Steve Saunders who is now under the custody of the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division in Cotabato City. Saunders is assigned with the United Nations humanitarian forces.

Abas said General Santos City election registrar Jose Villanueva found no record of Saunders’ violation of the gun ban in the city’s police stations.

"As of the moment, we can’t act on the reported case because we have no basis for our actions. It was not even entered in the police blotter," Abas told The STAR.

Task Force Gensan personnel picked up Saunders at the Cassado Bar of the East Asia Royale Hotel for possession of a .9 mm pistol. Task force head Col. Medardo Geslani turned over Saunders to the 6th Infantry Division in Cotabato City where Saunders’ unit is also based.

Abas emphasized that under the law, arrested gun ban violators should be turned over to the police for preliminary investigation.

"It is our standard operating procedures that once the military have their apprehension regarding the election gun ban, they should turn over the case to the police for investigation and for the necessary filing of charges especially if there’s a probable cause," Abas said.

Chief Superintendent Ramon Ventura Gatan, Central Mindanao police deputy regional director for administration, shared Abas’ view. "How can the police act on the case when the military failed to turn over the case to us?"

Initial reports said Task Force Gensan men went to Cassado Bar to respond to reports of a commotion involving Saunders and dzRH correspondent Henry Araneta. The latter accused Saunders of punching him in the head while he was drinking with other mediamen.

Araneta said Saunders apologized to him in tears during a confrontation at the Task Force Gensan headquarters. He denied, however, that Saunders had amicably settled with him as aired over dzRH by 1002nd Army Brigade Commander Col. Vicente Porto.

When asked if he is willing to settle amicably with Saunders, Araneta said he is "still waiting for the opinion of (his) fellow media practitioners" with whom he is set to meet today for "consultation."