Firearms, grenades seized in Las Piñas

Police claimed yesterday they foiled a plan to disrupt rallies during tomorrow’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) after seizing high-powered firearms and grenades from a construction site in Las Piñas City last Friday.

Intelligence officers from the city police station said they confiscated the weapons from a building on St. Andrew street in Patricia Homes, Barangay Pamplona.

The items included an Ingram submachine gun with silencer, a Harington M-16 rifle with scope, a Maverick shotgun, a rifle grenade, a Colt Armalite, a caliber .22 handgun, hand rifle grenades, live ammunition, a vest and a police badge.

The owner, identified as Nelson Politan, 42, and his assistant, Leonardo Realtado, were invited by police for questioning after they failed to produce documents for the weapons.

Las Piñas police chief Superintendent Jo Angan said they have "raw intelligence information" the firearms were intended for use in sabotaging the rallies to be staged by both anti- and pro-Arroyo marchers.

However, Angan refused to identify the people behind the alleged plot.

"We have yet to confirm that report. But this is a good accomplishment for our men and it shows we are on full alert for the SONA," Angan told The STAR in an interview.

He also stressed that the incident proves that police are not ignoring the anti-crime campaign despite most of their operatives being deployed to rallies as crowd dispersal and management officers.

Angan said their investigation would include a background check on Politan and Realtado. The seized firearms have been taken to the Firearms and Explosives Division at the police national headquarters in Camp Crame.

Politan claimed the confiscated guns were part of a collection and insisted they had been properly documented.

"But we don’t believe that. We will see if these people are involved in gunrunning, bank robberies or other illegal and criminal activities," Angan said.

Police said they initially went to the Pamplona area to check on complaints against the construction of the building that allegedly did not have a permit from the local government.

When the intelligence officers, who were in civilian attire, arrived, Politan met them with a tucked handgun.

The suspect went inside the building when asked by police to provide documents for the gun. The operatives followed him and discovered the weapons.

Angan said they have readied charges of illegal possession of firearms against the two men.