As a way to neutralize shooting incidents
By: Joey A. Gabieta
CAMP RUPERTO KANGLEON, CAMPETIC, PALO, Leyte- The newly-assumed police director of the region, Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos, has issued a warning against those who are in possession of loose firearms.
Carlos, who assumed the post last week, said that the proliferation of these loose firearms is the reason why shooting incidents happen.
The police regional director made this warning in the wake of an arrest of a barangay chairman in Calbayog City who was discovered to be in possession of firearms inside his house in Barangay Patong.
Carlos said that he has directed Senior Supt.Nicholas Torre III to intensify the campaign on loose firearm as a way to avoid further shooting incidents in Samar province.
“Samar PPO (Police Provincial Office) is conducting operations to remove these firearms. Shooting incidents could be avoided without these tools,” Carlos, in a press conference Monday (August 20), said, referring to loose firearms.
Carlos supervised the presentation of the loose firearms seized by the personnel of S/Supt. Torres at the house of barangay chairman Jemuel de Pablo during an operation on August 14 in Brgy.Patong.
The said operation also resulted to the arrest of de Pablo’s uncle, Jovito, who is a village councilor, and his son Jomar.
The operation also netted for the confiscation of several firearms and ammunitions from the houses of the village’s chairman father, Jornito, and Sonny Tegra, a former village chair of Patong.
Both Jornito and Tegra were not around when their houses were searched by police personnel who were armed of a search warrant issued by Judge Agerico Avila, presiding judge of Regional Trial-Branch 29 in Catbalogan City.
According to Carlos, private individuals who are allowed to carry firearms should have clearance issued by the Philippine National Police for their safety and security.
Otherwise, those who are in possession of firearms not authorized by the PNP should be subjected to scrutiny as to the purpose why they are carrying guns.
Meantime, Torre said that they are conducting their operations based on a court order.
And getting a search warrant, the Samar police provincial director said, is not easy.
“We make sure that we comply (with all the requirements in applying for a search warrant),” he said.
Torre also said that the firearms that they have confiscated from their August 14 operation as well as other firearms that they have seized from their previous operations were submitted at the regional crime laboratory for examination.
“These will be cross check if these firearms were used in previous shooting incidents and we suspect that many of these firearms were used in previous shooting incidents,” Torre said.
