RTC clears man of gun charges

Regional Trial Court judge Olegario Sarmiento yesterday ordered the immediate release of a 20-year-old man who he cleared of charges for possession of an unlicensed handgun when arrested at a checkpoint on April 28, 2002.

Sarmiento dismissed the testimonies of the policemen and tanods that a .45-caliber pistol and five rounds of ammunition were seized from Jeffrey Buladaco, a resident of Talisay City, who they said they arrested after an alleged brief chase.

Tanod Leonardo Suapengco testified that he and fellow tanods assisted the policemen in conducting a mobile checkpoint at past midnight near a school in barangay Basak-Pardo.

When a passenger jeepney stopped at the checkpoint, two teenagers alighted quickly from the vehicle and ran away.

This prompted Suapengco and other tanods to chase the juveniles but was able to arrest only Buladaco who they alleged was carrying a bag at that time.

The policemen said that, upon inspection of the bag Buladaco allegedly carried, they found out a Colt Mark IV .45-caliber pistol.

In his defense, Buladaco refuted the allegations of the authorities saying they did not seize the bag from his possession at the time of his arrest.

He said he was on a Tabunok-bound passenger jeepney when an unidentified person carrying a bag boarded the vehicle somewhere in Mambaling. But when the vehicle reached a checkpoint, the man quickly disembarked and fled, leaving the bag behind.

"There is doubt as to his guilt since the firearm was not really found in his possession," Sarmiento said.