LEGAZPI CITY --- A barangay chairman with a cache of high powered assault rifles was collared by operatives of Task Force Masbate (TFM) on Sunday at his residence in Placer, Masbate, a police official said Monday.

        Operatives of TFM arrested Antonio Deocampo, chairman of barangay Daraga, Placer, Masbate.  

        The arrest of the suspect brought to four elected local officials in Masbate nabbed for violating the Commission on Election (Comelec) gun ban at the onset of the May polls.

        Data from Camp Simeon Ola indicated that as of Monday, Feb. 15, sixty-one persons in Bicol were arrested for violating  the total gun ban where 29 violators  were from Masbate, nine each

        from Camarines Sur and Sorsogon, 7 in Albay, 5 in Camarines Norte 5, and 2 in Naga City.

         Various checkpoints and raids confiscated a total of 63 firearms composed of 28 handguns and 18 high powered firearms, the report said.

        Police Supt. Eliciar Bron, Philippine National Police (PNP) Bicol spokesman, said TFM operatives led by Police Senior Inspector Elmer Decena armed with a search warrant swooped down the home of the suspect at about 9:15 p.m. Sunday after receiving reports that the village chief had a cache of firearms and ammunitions kept in his house.

         The raiding team recovered  an M16, M14 rifle, a K69 Intratec Miami F1 cal. 9mm machine pistol, 79 rounds of 5.56mm, 10 rounds of 7.62mm and seven rounds of 9mm pistol, and 24 pieces empty shells of .45 caliber handgun.

        The suspect did not resist arrest and is now in the custody of  the TFM  for investigation and the filing of appropriate criminal charges against him.

        Authorities tagged the island province as a “political hot spot” because of its loose firearms, intense political rivalries, and the presence of political armed groups and communist insurgents.

        Defence Secretary Norberto Gonzales during his visit Friday last week verified reports whether the province  should be placed either under a state of emergency or Comelec control because of brewing animosities among known political clans in the island province.

        Intelligence reports claim that there are at least 2,500 members of 10 suspected partisan armed groups (PAG), four of which have been validated hired by warring political clans in Masbate.

        PAGs identified belong to one so-called Valenzuela group with 100 armed men from Bulacan and a group from the Visayas which have been alleged to have been employed by ranking politicians in the province.

        Military and police intelligence reports estimate that PAGs members are usually armed with high powered assault firearms. They are now reportedly deployed in the 21 towns across the province.

         Gonzales met with the Joint Security Coordinating Council (JSCC) and Task Force Masbate to assess the volatile political situation taking place there.

        The presence of  these armed groups including the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels makes the island province a political “powder keg” about to explode anytime, said  an intelligence official who refused to be named.