Negros mayor faces gun raps

MANILA, Philippines - A town mayor in Negros Occidental faces charges for illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

At least 19 of the 90 firearms confiscated from the house of Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña last Thursday were undocumented, according to the Firearms and Explosive Division (FED) in Camp Crame.

Peña was not around when a team led by Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz, Western Visayas Police director, swooped down  on the mayor’s three-hectare residential lot in Barangay Ubay at 6 a.m.

In his report to Philippine National Police chief Director General Alan Purisima, Cruz said the undocumented firearms include shotguns, assault rifles and  caliber .45 pistols.

The FED said the remaining firearms were licensed to corporations and several individuals, including two police personnel.

Peña decried the raid as political harassment by the camp of Negros Occidental Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr., after his expose on the alleged anomalous procurement of P80 million worth of livestock.

Peña is running against Marañon for the gubernatorial post in Negros Occidental.