Cops nab first gun ban violator in ARMM

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - Policemen arrested Sunday the first person to violate the nationwide barangay elections ban in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the ARMM police said.

The offender, Dimaronsing Mibayao Boriongan, a member of the security group of the University of Southern Mindanao in Marawi City, was intercepted at a checkpoint manned by members of the Lanao del Sur police carrying a .45 caliber pistol without any written authorization from the central office of the Commission on Elections.

Boriongan was on his way to the town proper of Marantao municipality in Lanao del Sur from Marawi City when frisked for inspection by policemen manning a checkpoint along a stretch of the Secretary Narciso Ramos Highway.

A .45 caliber pistol was found tucked in the waist of Boriongan when policemen asked him to raise his jacket to expose his torso, after they noticed he was carrying a handgun.

The director of the ARMM police, Chief Supt. Noel Delos Reyes, said the Lanao del Sur police will charge Boriongan with violation of the Comelec’s ban on carrying of guns, which is being imposed nationwide since last weekend. - John Unson