5 men identified with mayoral bet yield firearms

SAN NICOLAS, Pangasinan — Five men identified with a mayoral candidate here were caught in possession of firearms and ammunition and a handgrenade at a police checkpoint last Friday night.

In a report, Chief Inspector Rhode Espero, this town’s police chief, said the seized firearms lacked permits from the Commission on Elections.

The five men, identified as Rudolfo Fulgustino, Carlos Andaya, Virgilio Trinidad, Danilo Nario and Romulo de la Cruz, were on board a Tamaraw FX driven by one Manuel Tameo.

They were flagged down at a checkpoint jointly manned by the 3rd Company of the Regional Mobile Group and the local police in Barangay Sta. Maria here at about 9 p.m.

Police said Fulgustino, 50, yielded a 9-mm pistol and a magazine with eight bullets; Andaya, 54, a caliber .45 pistol with seven bullets; Trinidad, 45, a caliber .45 pistol and two magazines with 12 bullets; Nario, a caliber .38 paltik (homemade) revolver with five bullets; and De la Cruz, 43, a caliber .38 revolver with six bullets and a handgrenade.

Police said the five men were allegedly identified with mayoral candidate Leoncio Saldivar II. Their Tamaraw FX was registered under the name of one Angel Saldivar Jr.

As of press time, the police were preparing charges of violation of the firearms ban against the five men.

The Commission on Elections has placed this town under its control.