Slain trader owned 31 guns – Eastern Police District

MANILA, Philippines — Businessman Jose Luis Yulo, who was killed in an ambush along EDSA on Feb. 17, owned 31 firearms and was reported to be a marksman, officials said yesterday.

However, 17 of the 31 firearms have expired licenses, said Chief Superintendent Bernabe Balba, Eastern Police District director, quoting a report from the Philippine National Police’s Firearms and Explosives Division (FED).

Balba added that Chief Superintendent Val de Leon, who heads the FED, issued a certification that a .38 caliber snub-nosed revolver found in a bag containing Yulo’s belongings following the attack is registered under Romeo de Jesus Jorge but the license expired in 2009.

Balba asked De Leon to determine whether the 17 firearms have been sold or are still with the businessman’s family.

“When it could be proven that the 17 firearms were still under the businessman’s custody, I would ask his family to surrender them,” Balba said during a press briefing at the EPD headquarters.

Senior Superintendent Moises Villaceran, city police chief, said Yulo’s specialty was the revolver.

Balba said Yulo owned car and gun dealerships. He clarified that the businessman was the accused in a grave threat case filed by a woman in 1985 and the respondent in 14 bouncing check cases. All of the cases were dismissed.

Yulo and his driver,  Allan Santos, were killed in an ambush by motorcycle-riding assailants who shot at their Toyota Grandia van. Their companion, Esmeralda Ignacio, remains confined at a hospital.

Balba said the task force, which he heads, obtained a closed-circuit television video of Yulo making a restroom stop at a gas station in Muñoz, Quezon City.

The vehicle leaving with Rannie Marquela, a personal assistant of the businessman, Balba said.

Another CCTV video showed the van slowly stopping in front of the VRP Medical Center and two men riding a motorcycle passing them.

Balba said the video was not clear and did not show the actual attack. He said he will coordinate with the PNP anti-cybercrime division to enhance the video.

Yulo’s remains were cremated Monday but family members have yet to talk to the task force to shed light on the killings.