Court stops revocation of mayor’s gun permits

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  â€“ A local court has temporarily stopped the Philippine National Police (PNP) from revoking and cancelling the licenses of the 76 firearms of Pulupandan town Mayor Magdaleno Peña, seized during a police raid of his ancestral house last month.

Bago City Regional Trial Court Branch 62 Assisting Judge Manuel Cardinal Jr. issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the cancellation of the licenses of the seized firearms, which are now in custody of the Bacolod City RTC-Branch 42 and being kept in the storage room of the Hall of Justice in Bacolod.

The 76 firearms were part of the 90 firearms seized from Peña's house in Brgy. Ubay Pulupandan in a raid last May 2, via a search warrant issued by Quezon City RTC-Branch 85 Judge Filomena Singh.

The firearms are now subject of a court case between the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and Peña's camp and his four firms which claimed ownership of the firearms.

The four companies-Golden Lake Mineral Resources Inc., JHMA Marin Holdings Inc., Kentfield Corp., and Vegas Exploration and Mining Corp-filed a civil case seeking an injunction on the cancellation of the gun licenses with prayer for a writ of preliminary prohibitory injunction and/or a TRO, also last Friday.

In their complaints, the four firms asked the court to stop the defendants from implementing a resolution revoking the licenses of the firms' firearms, and in the event that it has already been implemented, a writ of preliminary injunction be issued to restore their licenses.

Named defendants were Sr. Supt. Jose Mario Meneses Espino, in his capacity as head of the CIDG's Anti-Organized Crime Division, the Firearms License Revocation and Restoration Board represented by its chairman, Senior Supt. Allan Parreño, and Chief Supt. Raul Petrasanta, chief of the Firearms and Explosives Office.

In granting the TRO, Cardinal said it is without necessarily implying that the plaintiffs are entitled to it, but merely to preserve the status quo until the application for preliminary injunction is heard and determined.

The plaintiffs have alleged that if the defendants are not restrained, their acts could cause irreparable damage, the judge noted, as he set the hearing for the application for preliminary injunction today.

On May 27, Peña's camp and his corporations filed a petition before a local court for a writ of replevin, a court order issued to recover a property deemed wrongfully taken.

On May 30, Bacolod RTC-Branch 42 Judge Fernando Elumba issued the writ of replevin, ordering the provincial sheriff to recover the 76 seized firearms from the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office into court custody.

Elumba also directed Peña's camp to file a bond amounting to P4 million as a condition for the issuance of the replevin.  (FREEMAN)