Gunmen raid house of vice mayor bet in Masbate

Armed men posing as soldiers on Saturday raided the house of a councilor in Claveria town in Masbate province and carted away two high-powered firearms, a military spokesman reported Sunday. Maj. Harold Cabunoc, the spokesman of the Army 9th Infantry Division, said more or less 30 armed men swooped down at the house of Monching Radan at Taguilid village at about 6 a.m. It was not clear whether Radan, who is running for vice mayor in the May elections, was at home during the raid. Cabunoc said the raid was carried out by followers of Radan's political opponent whom he did not identify. “Allegedly, the armed men were wearing camouflage uniform without name cloths. The residents of said barangay were able to identify some from the group as [private armed group] of an unnamed politician in the area," he said. The suspects were able to cart away a cal. 5.56 bushmaster M4 rifle and an M653 rifle. This occurred as the government is implementing a nationwide crackdown on private armies in the wake of the November 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao. The carnage was blamed on the powerful Ampatuan clan. - KBK, GMANews.TV