Lt. Col. Neil Wadingan, chief of Glan municipal police station. (File photo courtesy of the Police Regional Office 12)
Police arrested an alleged member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) for carrying an unlicensed firearm during a “community assembly” in a village in Glan town, Sarangani province on Thursday.
Lt. Col. Neil Wadingan, chief of the Glan municipal police station, identified the suspect as Abdul Kadir Tulantingan, who reportedly holds the rank of major in the “MNLF Army” based on his identification card.
Wadingan said they initially received a report from concerned residents at about 6:30 a.m. Thursday about the presence of the armed suspect in a resort in Barangay Gumasa.
He said Tulantingan was reportedly seen in a meeting of alleged MNLF members, holding a clutch bag containing an unspecified firearm. He said they immediately responded to the scene along with elements of the Maritime police unit and found the suspect carrying a caliber .45 pistol with seven live bullets.
“He failed to show any registration document and permit to carry the firearm,” Wadingan said in a report released on Friday.
At least 12 other men were present at the meeting but were neither armed nor carrying any illegal item, he added.
Citing accounts from attendees, Wadingan said the meeting was allegedly called by a former politician, whose identity was withheld, to discuss the MNLF’s recruitment of new members in the area.
He said the planned recruitment activity was reportedly in connection with the purported creation of an “MNLF municipality” in Glan.
Wadingan said they would file charges for violation of Article 146 of the Revised Penal Code or illegal assembly against the organizers of the meeting.
He said Tulantingan, who was detained at the Glan police station lockup, would be charged with violation of Republic Act 10591 or illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1093834
Lt. Col. Neil Wadingan, chief of the Glan municipal police station, identified the suspect as Abdul Kadir Tulantingan, who reportedly holds the rank of major in the “MNLF Army” based on his identification card.
Wadingan said they initially received a report from concerned residents at about 6:30 a.m. Thursday about the presence of the armed suspect in a resort in Barangay Gumasa.
He said Tulantingan was reportedly seen in a meeting of alleged MNLF members, holding a clutch bag containing an unspecified firearm. He said they immediately responded to the scene along with elements of the Maritime police unit and found the suspect carrying a caliber .45 pistol with seven live bullets.
“He failed to show any registration document and permit to carry the firearm,” Wadingan said in a report released on Friday.
At least 12 other men were present at the meeting but were neither armed nor carrying any illegal item, he added.
Citing accounts from attendees, Wadingan said the meeting was allegedly called by a former politician, whose identity was withheld, to discuss the MNLF’s recruitment of new members in the area.
He said the planned recruitment activity was reportedly in connection with the purported creation of an “MNLF municipality” in Glan.
Wadingan said they would file charges for violation of Article 146 of the Revised Penal Code or illegal assembly against the organizers of the meeting.
He said Tulantingan, who was detained at the Glan police station lockup, would be charged with violation of Republic Act 10591 or illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1093834