7 PAG members nabbed in Masbate

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – At least seven suspected members of a private armed group (PAG) tagged in the killing of a town councilor were arrested and their firearms confiscated in Pio V. Corpuz, Masbate over the weekend, authorities said.

The suspects tried to resist arrest by shooting it out with the members of the newly organized Task Force Masbate.

Quoting reports from the Masbate police, Maj. Harold Cabunoc, spokesman of the Army’s 9th Infantry Division based in Bicol, identified those arrested as Ambrosio Auman, 52; Gilbert Auman, 28; Rolalito Arabis, 31; Rolly Gallarde, 29; Charlito Rotano, 52; Bonifacio Auman, 53; and Rey Buhia, 32, now all detained at the Masbate police headquarters while appropriate charges are being readied against them.

Seized from the suspects included an M-16 rifle, caliber 356 revolver, caliber .38 revolver, and several rounds of assorted bullets, Cabunoc said.

Cabunoc said the group headed by a certain Gerry Nolasco engaged Task Force Masbate members in a shootout as they sensed their arrest at the boundary of Pio V. Corpuz and Esperanza towns.

He said Nolasco’s group was implicated in the killing last Jan. 20 of Esperanza Association of Barangay Captains president Ali Aranzado.

“Sensing the presence of the (police), the PAG members opened fire. A brief firefight ensued after which the armed men retreated toward various directions leaving behind some of their members and their firearms. The PAG members used human shields from among the civilians as they fled,” Cabunoc told The STAR in an e-mail.

Task Forced Masbate was formed as authorities expect more atrocities in the province in the run-up to the May 10 polls.

Masbate is the only Bicol province tagged as an area of immediate concern by the Commission on Elections.