Losing mayor bet, companions nabbed in Shariff Aguak

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines - Lawmen arrested a staunch campaigner of the United Nationalist Alliance during the May 13 local and midterm polls who was caught carrying assorted firearms while in Shariff Aguak town Monday.

Maguindanao’s police director, Senior Supt. Rudelio Jocson, in a report to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police office, identified the arrested politician as Hyman Mangelen Salendab, who hails from Buluan town in the second district of the province.

Salendab  lost his May 13 bid for the mayoral post of Buluan town in the second district of Maguindanao.

Jocson, in his report to the ARMM’s police director, Chief Supt. Noel Delos Reyes, said combined police and Army operatives caught Salendab and the latter's companions at the town proper of Shariff Aguak keeping a 9 millimeter KG9 machine pistol, a customized STI .45 caliber pistol, and a Colt M16 caliber 5.56 assault rifle inside the politician's Toyota Revo bearing license plates MED 455.

Barangay officials in Shariff Aguak have confirmed the seizure of the guns from Salendab, hinting that incumbent local officials in the municipality helped the police detect his presence in the area, leading to his arrest.

Investigators said the soldiers and policemen manning the checkpoint where Salendab and his companions were intercepted only inspected his vehicle at first through its open windows, but decided to check the car's inside  when they noticed a barrel of a handgun protruding from under the leg of one of its passengers.

“The checkpoint activity was part of our security measures to prevent bomb attacks in the province,” Jocson said in a text message to reporters.

Also arrested along with Salendab were his companions, Togan Salipada Montawal and Tapio Sabang Salendab.

Policemen also seized from Salandab’s motorcycle-riding companions, Efren Blanco Tee and Edwin Suganob Palmera, a .45 caliber pistol and more than a dozen rounds of ammunition.

The Maguindanao police will file charges of illegal possession of firearms against the suspects, according to Jocson. John Unson