Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 27) — Police said a gun store owner in Marawi City might be connected with local terror group Maute.
The PNP Firearms and Explosives Office (PNP-FEO) said they received intelligence information that the gun store owner may have links to Isnilon Hapilon, Abu Sayyaf Leader and the alleged “emir” of the terror group ISIS in Southeast Asia.
“If the sympathy of that person is with the person you are mentioning, it’s up for the investigators how to connect the business,” said PNP-FEO Director SSupt. Val de Leon, referring to the gun store owner and Hapilon respectively.
This is after they discovered more firearms in the warzone with their serial numbers either defaced or tampered. Some of the firearms also had expired licenses.
“Under the new law, dapat kung pangangalaga mo ‘yon [if those are under your supervision], you will be accountable and answerable to the government why these firearms are being recovered sa mga threat groups,” de Leon added.
Republic Act 10591 or the “Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act” states that any person who shall tamper, obliterate or alter a firearm without authority may be imprisoned for a minimum of six months to a maximum of six years.
Reports said two firearms stores were ransacked at the height of the crisis in Marawi City.
There are more than 250 high-power firearms recovered from inside Marawi, according to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
The PNP Firearms and Explosives Office has sent a complete list of legitimate gun owners and their respective firearms to the local police for validation.
No civilian is allowed to carry firearms while martial law is in effect in Mindanao.
Martial law was declared on May 23 in Mindanao after Maute-ISIS attempted to take over Marawi City to establish an ISIS caliphate.
