Cagas thanks Robredo for help in campaign vs loose firearms

By ANTONIO M. AJERO and ANTHONY S. ALLADA
DAVAO DEL SUR Gov. Douglas Ra. “Dodo” Cagas remembers the late Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo for having extended assistance to the province when he was still alive.
During the recent quarterly meeting of the Regional Peace and Order Committee (RPOC) headed by Davao del Norte Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario, Cagas said that the August 2 raid on the residence of Mayor Jimmy “James” Joyce of Jose Abad Santos was at the instance of DILG Secretary Robredo.
Cagas said the raid, which was done after months of surveillance and sleuthing work by police intelligence operatives, some even  posing as jobseekers in order to move freely in the town.
“After President Noynoy appeared on television to reiterate his 2010 order to the police to break up PAGs, I called up  Secretary Robredo and told him about the PAGs and guns-for-hire in several towns of the second district and Digos City,” the governor said.
“He asked me to go to Manila and meet him in the Camp Crame office of Deputy Cacdac and the national intelligence chief,” he said, adding that the secretary directed them (PNP officers) to help in securing a search warrant from a Manila court.
“That was Secretary Robredo’s last act of helping me, because shortly thereafter, he died in a plane crash,” Cagas said. “Were he alive today, I am certain he would continue helping me dismantle PAGs and arrest wanted guns-for-fire. Sayang, he died.”
Earlier, Cagas said Secretary Robredo issued a SEAL OF GOOD GOVERNANCE to Davao del Sur in October 2011.
“It was part of our campaign against the presence of several partisan armed groups in my province,” the governor told Chief Supt. Jaime Morente, Region 11 police director, Brig. Gen. Ariel Bernardo, commander of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division and other RPOC members that the project could not have succeeded without the help of Robredo.
Armed with a search warrant issued by a Regional Trial Court in Manila, the authorities swooped down on Joyce’s house and recovered two M16 Armalite rifles, two M16 Baby Armalite rifles, one Ingram assault rifle, one .9mm pistol, one rifle grenade, one Colt MK .45 pistol and assorted ammunition and magazines.
The raiding team also recovered one AK47 rifle, one Tavor assault rifle, one M16 Bushmaster rifle, one cal. 40 pistol, scope and rifle, and assorted ammunitions and magazines inside the bedroom of the town mayor.
The raid came after authorities confirmed reports that a cache of firearms was being kept in the house of the mayor in Barangay Caburan Small.
Joyce was charged with violation of Republic Act 8294, otherwise known as Illegal Possession of Firearms and Explosives.
Prosecutor Perfecto Ordaneza of the Provincial Prosecution Office in Digos City also ordered the release of Joyce’s security escorts, namely, Ronnie Pandamon, Arnel Dionisio, Victorino Venancio, Hernan Miguel, Floro Arquillano, and Boroy Tilo for lack of evidence.
Based on the resolution there was no probable cause to charge the six security escorts.
During the RPOC meeting, Cagas urged the PNP and the AFP commands in the region to move against the guns-for-hire operating in Davao del Sur and not to hesitate to kill them as they have killed so many innocent victims.
Unless these armed men are neutralized, people can not expert a peaceful election in the province next year.