Bilibid inmate’s guns traced to pols

MANILA, Philippines - Politicians, including Rep. Joaquin Carlos Rahman Nava of the lone district of Guimaras, own three of the guns recovered from the luxurious detention house of drug lord Peter Co in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

Records of the Philippine National Police’s Firearms and Explosives Office show that a caliber .22 Walther pistol (Z004605) is registered under Nava’s name. The license was approved on Dec. 29, 2011 with an expiry date on Nov. 19, 2015.

A caliber 5.56 Bushmaster rifle with serial number L433821, meanwhile, belongs to losing congressional candidate Carlitos Tiquia. He ran and lost in Valenzuela City in the 2013 elections.

A 9mm Browning pistol was registered to barangay councilman Vicente Alindada Jr. of Caloocan’s Barangay 8 in Sangandaan.

A fourth gun, a 9mm Browning pistol, belongs to Avelino Nicanor, reportedly a government official.

“We want to get their side first. We also want to know, how come the guns registered under their names were in Peter Co’s possession?” a source said.

The men will be subpoenaed to explain their side because the firearms were never reported lost or missing, the source said.

Five firearms were confiscated from Co’s fully furnished kubol or detention house when fully armed NBI agents and policemen raided NBP last Monday. The guns were on top of the P1.14 million and illegal drugs confiscated from him.

The fifth gun was subjected to macro-etching because the serial number had been defaced.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who led the raid, divulged that these men were operating “20 to 50” percent of the overall narcotic trade in the country.

The NBP is under Bureau of Corrections, which is supervised by the Department of Justice.