The camp of Pulupandan mayor-elect Miguel Peña is free to get the 76 firearms that are being held at the Bacolod Hall of Justice anytime since the five-day period from their seizure from police custody by the court sheriff by virtue of a writ of replevin has ended, his lawyer Roger Reyes said yesterday.

The 76 are part of the 90 firearms seized from the ancestral house of Peña in Barangay Ubay, Pulupandan, on May 2.

“We are not stupid, we know that as soon as the firearms leave the Hall of Justice the police will seize them for violation of the COMELEC gun ban that ends on June 12 yet,” Reyes said.

Peña and Golden Lake Mineral Resources Inc., JHMA Marin Holdings and Kentfield Corp., which he represents as their president/chairman of the board, and Vegas Exploration and Mining Corp., represented by its president, Federico Infante Jr., filed a civil case for replevin on May 27 to recover 76 of the seized firearms that they said they own.

The writ was granted by RTC Branch 42 Judge Fernando Elumba.

The police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group is asking the court to release the guns to the Quezon City court that granted the search warrant that led to their seizure.

A hearing at Branch 42 is set on June 13 on the motion filed by the CIDG, Reyes said.

Meanwhile, he said they are waiting for a copy of the reported police cancellation of the licenses of all the 90 seized firearms from Ubay. He said what they have is a board resolution recommending the cancellation of the permits. If a revocation order was issued and they get a copy, he said they will take legal action, claiming that due process was not observed.

Any revocation of the licenses would be without basis as the weapons were never used for the commission of a crime, he added.

Meanwhile, the firearms remain stored in two vehicles at the parking area of the Hall of Justice.

Court personnel said the vehicles were provided by Peña because they have no evidence room when they will keep the 76 firearms.*CPG

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