Guns seized from 2 motorists figured in Kidapawan highway crash

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- Two motorists who were involved in a vehicular accident have been subjected to thorough investigation by the police after two unlicensed firearms were recovered from them when the incident happened along Barangay Kalaisan here on Sunday.Police Officer 3 Mardonni Alegarbes, investigator on case, identified the suspects as Rodrigo Anura, 37, dispatcher of passenger vans plying Cotabato-Davao route and Renante Agamon Borda, 41, carpenter.Both are from the city.Alegarbes said they recovered from Borda a caliber 45 pistol with serial number 105266 and a magazine and from Anura a Colt caliber 45 pistol with serial number 186245 and also a magazine.Both guns were fully loaded, according to Alegarbes.He also said the suspects failed to present to authorities documents, like official receipt and certificate of registration, of the motorcycle they were riding on when they got involved in an accident.Lt. Col. Noel Luaoang, executive officer of the Army’s 39thInfantry Battalion, said the suspects, onboard a motorcycle without a license plate, were 200 meters away from their checkpoint in Barangay Kalaisan when they literally ‘flew’ from the vehicle and landed on the cemented road.Luaoang said after residents in the area informed them of the incident they immediately brought Anura and Borda to the nearest hospital.It was during this time that the soldiers found the guns tucked in the suspects’ waists.During the investigation, Alegarbes and his team found out that even the suspects’ vehicle was without legal papers.Both failed to present the motorbike’s official receipt and certificate of registration.Authorities have yet to determine if the suspects are ‘hired killers’ or are engaged in ‘gun for hire.’Alegarbes said initially the suspects refused to talk about the reasons for carrying unlicensed pistols. During the investigation they even used aliases.But when the wife of one of them arrived at the hospital, she gave her husband’s real name and his companion, said the police officer.While the suspects were placed under hospital arrest, Alegarbes and his team are readying complaint of illegal possession of firearms against them.