A cache of ammunition, magazines and an M-16 rifle were seized from a house owned by a family, most of them doctors, at 102 Street, Greenplains Subdivision in Brgy. Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City, at about 6:30 a.m. yesterday.

Bacolod City Police Office, Special Operations Group chief, Supt. Jefferson Descallar, said they confiscated an M-16 rifle with a tampered serial number, 927 live M-16 rifle ammunition, 182 empty shells of an M-16 rifle and 26 magazines.

The raid also yielded a bandolier with “AFP” markings, a rifle case and several gun cleaning tools, police records show.

The subjects of the search warrant were identified by Descallar as Erwin, Earl, and Engelbert. All are doctors, except Eldred Jr., and are all surnamed Jardinico. They were not present during the raid.

A team from the BCPO SOG swooped down on the house yesterday, armed with a search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Anita Guanzon-Chua, Descallar said.

The rifle, behind the umbrellas, was found in the bathroom at the second floor of the house, while the ammunition were recovered from the staircase of the underground room. Its main door was covered by a sofa, barangay kagawad Romeo Jago Sr., who witnessed the raid, said.

He said residents in the area claimed that the Jardinicos have been firing guns there.

Descallar said some of the suspects are in Manila, while some may have left the country already. They vacated the house three weeks before the approval of the search warrant.

He said the Jardinicos will be charged for violation of Republic Act 8294, or illegal possession of firearm and ammunition, before the Bacolod City Prosecutor’s Office.

The police said the informant, whose name was not disclosed, reported to the Police Regional Office-6 that the Jardinicos threatened and attempted to shoot them with two M-16 rifles in Brgy. 4, Moises Padilla town in Negros Occidental early this year. The case was referred to the BCPO in August, Descallar said.

The search and seizure was also witnessed by Brgy. Singcang-Airport tanod team leader, Michael Natividad, and a local broadcaster, Descallar said.

The recovered items will be presented to the court, he added.*SGG

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