Moncada, Tarlac – – Money can buy freedom.
The Caloocan City Barangay Kagawad who was arrested here, along with his ‘wife’, for illegal drugs and 2 guns last Friday was recently released after posting bail.
In her report, PCInsp Palmyra Guardaya said, Romeo Mauricio Giron, Kagawad of Barangay 68, Caloocan City, posted bail for the charges of violation of RA 9165 (possession of illegal drugs -shabu) and 2 counts of violation of RA 10591 (illegal possession of firearms).
Giron was flagged down by this town’s police and the Tarlac Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) headed by PCInsp Jerrold Jake Manguerra at Barangay San Julian when the black Ford Ranger pick up he was driving was “swerving in the highway”.
“Giron was reeking of alcohol when we flagged him down. We seized from him a fully loaded 9MM Glock pistol with an extra loaded magazine, an Auto caliber .25 with 5 bullets and 5 sachets of shabu”, said Guardaya who is this town chief of police.
The 36-year old Giron was with his common law wife Maria Concepcion Esteban.
In a subsequent drug test at the Tarlac Police Crime Laboratory, Giron and Esteban tested negative for shabu, hence, the release.
However, a source who requested his name withheld said he saw Giron and Esteban sniff cocaine in their car just before they were flagged down by the police.
Apparently, Giron, whose mother hails from the neighboring town of Ramos, has had a drinking spree with some friends and relatives at Barangay Sta. Maria.
A police source says a shabu test cannot detect the use of cocaine.
“We have been monitoring Giron since his half-brother Jerrboy Mauricio was buried here last week. Mauricio is the barangay chairman of Barangay 68 (Caloocan City) and is said to be a high value target of Caloocan”, said Manguerra.
Mauricio was gunned down in his barangay hall by unidentified gunmen last May 26 and was buried last June 10 at the Ramos Public Cemetery.
The bail for possession of illegal drugs is P200,000 while the bail for illegal possession of firearms is P180,000 each.
For his part, Tarlac Police Provincial Director, PSSupt Ritchie Medardo Posadas, commended Guardaya and Manguerra for their “vigilance in flagging down Giron and for the confiscation of 2 guns and illegal drugs”.
“We assure the people of Tarlac that we are always on the look-out for any suspected criminals, especially those carrying firearms, and we will not allow any of them to disturb the peace of our communities”, Posadas said.
“Though, he (Giron) was able to post bail, and is now free from detention, we trust in our justice system that he will pay the penalties for his violating our laws”, also said Posadas. /Nelson Bolos