Four armed men were arrested in Tabuelan town after they figured in a shootout with a barangay captain last Tuesday morning.
Cebu 4th district Rep. Benhur Salimbangon suspects the men are part of an armed group out to sow trouble as political rivalry heats up with the filing of certificates of candidacies for the 2013 elections this week.
Arrested were Demosthenes Bacasmas, 41; Jesus Villador, 40; Pablo Arriesgado, 32; all residents of barangay San Vicente, Bogo City; and Cesar Bariquet, 35; of barangay Pardo, Cebu City.
They will be facing charges of illegal possession of firearms, explosives and attempted murder after Bacasmas allegedly shoot but failed to hit the barangay captain of Kantubaon Julito Almonacin.
Bacasmas is now recuperating in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) after getting hit in the left thigh by Almonacin who fired back at him.
Police seized two caliber .45 pistols loaded with bullets, a fragmentation grenade, two caliber .357 revolvers loaded with bullets, a 9 mm pistol, and a sub-machine gun loaded with bullets.
Almonacin said he was on the look out for his security last Sunday after receiving information about men on-board motorcycles looking for him.
At around 9 a.m., Almonacin together with his barangay police volunteers tried to accost the group of Bacasmas in the flea market.
But instead of cooperating, Bacasmas shot the barangay captain but missed. Taking cover from a coconut tree, the barangay captain returned fire and hit the left thigh of Bacasmas.
The companions of Bacasmas tried to defend him but were prevailed upon by responding Tabuelan policemen.
Almonacin said personal grudges and political rivalry could be the motives behind the attack.
Last month, he claimed receiving a phone call threatening him of his life.
“Di na ka kaabot ug December. Moabot na imong gipangita.” (You wouldn’t live until December. What you are looking for will arrive), the anonymous caller said.
Police investigators found that Bacasmas is a former member of the City of Bogo Anti-Crime Task Force (CBACTF). He was dismissed because of an illegal drugs case.
Villador has a pending illegal possession of firearms case in Tabuelan. He was freed last month after posting bail.
The suspects denied the allegations against them.
They claim to have just joined Bacasmas go to a backyard cockfight.
Police also seized the licensed firearm of Almonacin pending investigation./With Correspondent Gabriel C. Bonjoc