Kagawad gets gun licenses despite criminal charges

MANILA, Philippines - A barangay kagawad or councilman from Batangas, who is allegedly a member of an organized crime group, secured gun licenses despite having been charged for various crimes, documents obtained by the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) showed.

The most recent gun license issued to Christopher Castillo was for a .45 caliber pistol, which was approved on June 11, 2012, based on a document from the Firearms and Explosives Office of the Philippine National Police.

The permit was approved despite Castillo’s being charged in crimes that happened in April that year, in September 2007, in September 2008 and in September 2009.

In August 2012 – months after the recent license was issued – Castillo figured in an encounter with police in San Juan, Batangas. And in December 2012, he was tagged in a violent robbery at a market in Quezon City.

Castillo is an incumbent village councilman of Barangay Coloconto in San Juan, Batangas and reportedly a member of a gang allegedly led by Thaddeus Fajardo.

Aside from the permit for the .45 caliber pistol, Castillo was also issued another permit for another .45 caliber pistol (approved on April 29, 2009 and set to expire on Aug. 10, 2013) and another one for a 556 Colt rifle (approved on Jan. 20, 2011 and set to expire on Aug. 10, 2013).

Based on a report by the QCPD, Castillo was charged in the killing of Bantay Dagat chairman Marcel de Chavez on Sept. 9, 2009; the killing of Eulogio Perez on Sept. 29, 2007; and the ambush of Jesus Sora Jr., barangay chairman of Ticalan, San Juan, Batangas in September 2008.

The same QCPD report stated that Castillo was arrested on April 3, 2012 at a cockfighting arena in San Juan, Batangas for illegal possession of firearms.

Records also showed that Castillo has pending cases for three counts of attempted murder and two counts of frustrated murder in connection with an encounter in which two policemen were hurt on Aug. 9, 2011.