Presidential adviser Llamas surrenders firearm to QC cops
MANILA, Philippines—Presidential political adviser Ronaldo Llamas surrendered to the Quezon City Police District on Thursday afternoon the high-powered rifle that was earlier brought by his security escorts into his sports utility vehicle without the necessary permit.
Police said members of the QCPD collected the firearm from Llamas on Thursday afternoon at his Quezon City residence.
Also turned over were three magazines of the high-powered firearm and a carrying case.
Chief Superintendent George Regis, the QCPD director, presented the rifle to the media after receiving it from Llamas at around 5:30 p.m. as shown by an acknowledgment receipt.
Regis personally went to the Palace official’s home, accompanied by Senior Inspector Edilberto Bartolome and Chief Insp. Rodelio Marcelo of the QCPD CIDU.
Regis also read a letter from Llamas, in which he identified his men in the unfortunate accident as John Brillant Alarcon, Joey Tecson, Michael de Chavez and Reagan Lita.
“They will be charged first thing in the morning (of Friday, Oct. 14) before the prosecutors’ office,” he added.
Llamas has admitted owning several high-powered firearms after he received death threats due to the nature of his job at Malacañang.
Llamas, however, stressed he never gave his security escorts permission to bring his high-powered rifle outside of his residence. He had sacked his security escorts and staff members involved in the accident and made them face police investigation.
Llamas said all of his firearms were covered by licenses and permits to carry but these were under his name and no one else’s. By Thursday, the police had revoked Llamas’ permit-to-carry papers for the high-powered rifle found inside his SUV.
The assault rifle was discovered by television news crew inside the SUV of Llamas when it figured in an accident last week. Llamas was in Switzerland at the time of the accident.
Earlier, the Quezon City Police District announced it would definitely file charges of illegal possession of firearms against four of Llamas’ staff members
Regis said Joey Tecson was the driver of the Mitsubishi Montero; bodyguard John Alarcon and Michael de Chavez were passengers of the Montero; and Reagan Lita was the driver of the Hyundai Starex, which arrived at the accident site to retrieve the gun.
Although the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit had yet to file the charges as of late Thursday, Regis already announced that the complaint would not include Llamas, the presidential political adviser.
“The case to be filed (before the Quezon City prosecutors’ office) will not include Llamas, because he was not there when the accident happened,” the police official said.
Llamas’s staff figured in a traffic accident with an Isuzu Elf Truck, on Friday last week, in Quezon City, during which television news teams took video shots of the gun tucked underneath a car seat.
Two men aboard a Hyundai Starex van later arrived at the scene along Commonwealth Avenue to remove the rifle from the damaged Montero.
According to Regis, the Philippine National Police only revoked Llamas’s permit to carry, or PTC, for the high-powered rifle found inside the SUV, but his license remains valid.
Asked about the basis of the complaint, the police official said Llamas’s staff members were charged because they did not have the documents to possess the assault rifle, and all the papers were under Llamas’ name.
Citing media reports, Regis said the staff members were reportedly instructed by Llamas to return the firearm to his house after the official was brought to the airport for his trip to Europe last week.
“That instruction – to return the firearm to the house – was apparently neglected,” the police official said.
At the time of the accident last week, traffic investigators did not have evidence that a firearm was indeed tucked under the car seat.
Police only learned about it from the video footages aired by TV networks ABS-CBN 2 and GMA 7.
Chief Inspector Rodelio Marcelo, CIDU chief, said they decided to press with the filing of charges against Llamas’s workers even if the Palace official did not surrender his firearm.
The TV footages will be used as evidence against Lllamas’ staff members in the criminal complaint.
