Camp Crame: Valera licensed holder of 8 firearms

MANILA, Philippines - Bangued, Abra Mayor Dominic Valera is a licensed holder of eight high-powered and short firearms while his son has three, police said yesterday.

The Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) issued a certification on Valera’s firearms yesterday to help the Cordillera police establish the ownership of five firearms and a grenade recovered after last week’s killing of Mario Acena, a driver of Ryan Luna, Valera’s chief rival in the mayoral race.

The Cordillera police filed murder charges against Valera and his police escort, PO2 Joseph Barreras, for Acena’s killing.

Chief Superintendent Villamor Bumanlag, Cordillera police director, said they wanted to establish the owners of the confiscated firearms to determine whether they could be charged as accessories in the killing.

Bumanlag said they recovered a baby Armalite rifle, two caliber .45 pistols, a shotgun, a caliber 9-mm pistol and a grenade in Barangay Cosili West where Acena was shot dead last April 29.

Chief Superintendent Gil Meneses, FED chief, said Valera is a licensed holder of four Bushmaster rifles, a caliber .45 Colt pistol, a caliber 9-mm Jericho pistol, a caliber 9-mm Llama pistol, and a caliber .45 Smith and Wesson pistol.

Meneses said Valera’s son Joseph Domino is a licensed holder of a caliber 9-mm Ruger pistol, a 9-mm STI pistol, and a Galil assault rifle.

Bumanlag said he is waiting for the FED certification signed by Chief Inspector Rodrigo Benedicto Sarmieno Jr., chief of the FED’s records section, for cross-matching with the serial numbers of the confiscated firearms.

He said police investigators and lawyers of the Cordillera police would file charges against the owners of the confiscated firearms once proven these were used in killing Acena.

Police have in their custody two witnesses who pointed to Valera and Barreras as the ones who allegedly shot Acena.

The Bangued mayor vehemently denied the allegation. He is still confined in the hospital under a 24-hour police watch while Barreras is in the custody of his superiors.

Meanwhile, Valera remains a candidate despite the murder charges filed against him.

“Valera has not yet been found guilty of any crime, which is why he may still continue his candidacy in the local elections,” said Abra provincial election supervisor Vanessa Roncal. – With Artemio Dumlao