Metro Briefs: October 26, 2018

QC antidrugs police official dies in accidental shooting

The head of an antidrugs unit of a Quezon City police station died on Thursday after he allegedly accidentally shot himself with his service pistol inside his office. Insp. Ceferino Gatchalian, head of the Kamuning police station’s drug enforcement unit, died at East Avenue Medical Center due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to his superior, Supt. Louise Benjie Tremor.

Tremor, Kamuning police station chief, said the 41-year-old Gatchalian was just about to go off duty around 7 a.m. when the incident happened. His team had just conducted separate buy-bust operations at Barangays Holy Spirit and Pinyahan the night before, resulting in the arrest of two drug suspects.

The victim was changing clothes in his office when his gun accidentally fell and went off, firing a bullet into his stomach, Tremor said.  Investigators were still trying to determine if the gun malfunctioned or if Gatchalian had forgotten to put it on safety. The victim managed to go out of his office and asked for help from other policemen who took him to the hospital. However, he was declared dead at 9 a.m. —Krixia Subingsubing

DTI, DOH urged to release IRR on 5-year-old law

Environmentalists and consumer rights advocates have asked a Quezon City court to order the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of Health (DOH) to issue the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for a five-year-old law penalizing those who make and sell toys containing hazardous materials.

Ecowaste Coalition and Laban Konsyumer, which filed a writ of mandamus against the two agencies on Tuesday, said the delay in crafting the IRR for Republic Act 10620, or the Toys and Games Safety Act, was unprecedented and “unheard of.” RA 10620 bans toys and games that do not adhere to labeling and packaging requirements that aim to protect children from exposure to harmful substances like arsenic, lead and mercury.

Under the law, DTI and DOH must regularly update the list of errant manufacturers, distributors and retailers, as well as misbranded or banned hazardous materials. But since its passage in 2013, both agencies have yet to come up with the IRR. Ecowaste’s informal study of toys bought from Divisoria showed that 77 percent were noncompliant with the law. — Krixia Subingsubing