PNP to intensify drive vs unlicensed firearms
TACLOBAN CITY — The regional headquarters of the Philippine National Police will intensify further on their campaign against loose firearms as a high police official reported that there are still tens of thousands of unlicensed firearms circulating across the region despite of a recent gun amnesty program of the national government.
This was revealed by Senior Superintendent Manuel Cubillo, chief of the PNP-8 community police relations office, who said that the 5-month amnesty program on loose firearms in the region only yielded over 4,000 firearms out of the estimated more than 43,000 unlicensed firearms.
“We will intensify our campaign on loose firearms by conducting checkpoint operations to see to it that those unregistered firearms still circulating here in the region will be confiscated,” Cubillo said during a telephone interview.
But the police official issued an appeal to those gun owners who failed to avail of the amnesty program to surrender their firearms or face criminal charges.
“We are appealing to them to voluntarily surrender their firearms. Otherwise they could be charged with illegal possession of firearms,” Cubillo said.
All firearms surrendered or confiscated would be forfeited in favor of the national government, he said.
The campaign of the registration of loose firearms is part of the measures to ensure that next year’s elections in the region will be peaceful and orderly.
“We have to stop the circulation of loose firearms in the region so we can (ensure a peaceful) elections next year,” Cubillo said.
The police official had earlier said that they are monitoring some private armed groups in the region. Firearms in possession of these private armed groups are considered loose firearms.
The campaign of the PNP on gun amnesty program, which ended last month, yielded more than 4,400 firearms as reported by various police stations in the region.
While the number of firearms, which were processed under the gun amnesty program, only represented about 10 percent of the more than 43,000 loose firearms in the region, Cubillo still declared their campaign successful.
“We were only given a target of about nine percent by our national headquarters,” the police official said.
During the five month campaign on gun amnesty, 4,481 firearms of various calibers were either surrendered, registered, renewed or confiscated by the PNP in the region.
Out of this figure, 150 firearms were seized from various checkpoints in the region, Cubillo said. The remaining 4, 331 firearms were either registered or renewed of their licenses on gun ownership.
Cubillo said that the Leyte police office posted the highest number of firearms which availed of the gun amnesty program at 1,268 followed by the Tacloban police office at 930 firearms.
About 553 firearms were yielded by the Southern Leyte police headquarters, 402 in Biliran, 157 in Samar, 348 in Eastern Samar, 415 in Northern Samar, 343 in Ormoc police station and 65 at the regional police headquarters.
Cubillo said that based on their records, there are only 8,601 registered firearms out of the estimated 43,000 loose firearms in the region.
Read More on Leyte Samar Daily Express
- Only 2,815 gun owners availed of gun amnesty program in EV
- PNP extends gun amnesty from October 31 to November 31, 2009
- Over 200,000 loose firearms owners in RP avail of gun amnesty program
- 3,998 firearms owners avail of the gun amnesty
- To enforce Comelec gun ban PNP to deploy another police company in Samar Island
