Man arrested for illegal firearms, ammunition

ILOILO City – A 52-year-old man was arrested yesterday in Barangay Paloc Bigque, Dumangas, Iloilo for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.

Gilbert Togonon was apprehended by the Dumangas police at 9:10 a.m.

The arrest followed a raid on the strength of a search warrant issued by Judge Vicente Go of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 68.

During the search, police recovered several firearms and ammunition from Togonon’s house, including:

* a .45 Colt pistol loaded with one round of ammunition

* a 12-gauge homemade shotgun

* a disassembled 12-gauge homemade shotgun with one magazine

* two magazines for a .45 pistol

* 13 rounds of .45 ammunition

* two rounds of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition

* five rounds of .357 revolver ammunition

* two gun holsters

* two sling bags

Major Samuel Vipinosa, the Dumangas police chief, said the raid was conducted following reports that Togonon frequently fired his gun.

“The search yielded positive results,” Vipinosa said.

Colonel Bayani Razalan, officer-in-charge of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO), emphasized that this operation was part of their intensified campaign against loose firearms, in response to an order from Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) director, Brigadier General Jack Wanky.

“We need to intensify our campaign against the illegal possession of unlicensed guns to prevent them from being used by criminals,” said Razalan./PN