Armed ex-convict nabbed

An ex-convict was arrested after police said they  found unlicensed firearms in  his rented house in barangay Calamba, Cebu City, yesterday afternoon.

The suspect, Napoleon Arda, denied ownership of the guns.

Police said when Arda was arrested,  they recovered a .45 pistol from  his possession.

Police searched his house and found  a home-made 12-gauge shotgun, a .38 revolver with mounted laser sight,  two .22 black widow revolver and several bullets.

Members of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)  went to the Calamba cemetery past 3 p.m. after receiving a report that an armed man was spotted there.

The armed man was no longer there when police arrived.

About an hour later, Calamba barangay councilor Elde Egonia reported to the police that he saw Arda brandishing a .45 pistol in front of the Calamba cemetery around 4 p.m.

Police arrived and saw Arda, who ran to his rented house.

Authorities chased him and entered his house.

Chief Insp. Bonifacio Garciano, chief of the Investigation and Detective Management Branch (IDMB), said Arda had four companions when they arrived in the area but  the other men escaped.

Garciano said police suspect  the group was planning a robbery.

Arda, who is unemployed, aroused police suspicions with his cache of guns.

Two abandoned  motorcycles were also recovered in the area.

Garciano said Arda was arrested in 2000 for a homicide case and served his sentence at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

Arda was transferred to the Iwahig Penal Colony in Palawan before he was released in 2008.

Charges are being readied against Arda, while operations to arrest his companions are ongoing, said police.