INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
OLONGAPO CITY — At least 200 loose firearms were voluntarily turned over and surrendered by gun owners to authorities in a monthlong operation in Central Luzon amid the intensified government’s “Oplan Katok” drive.
In a statement on Sunday (April 21), Brig. Gen. Jose Hidalgo Jr., director of Police Regional Office 3, said under Oplan Katok, policemen go house-to-house to visit firearm holders who have yet to renew their firearms license.
These gun owners are then convinced to renew their firearm permits or have their guns stored in police vaults for safekeeping.
READ: 29 deaths, 12,000 loose firearms seized in PNP crackdowns Jan 1-Jun 2 – Acorda
Data showed that the loose firearms were surrendered to the police from March 19 to April 19.
“May these figures remind us that owning or possessing a firearm entails responsibility, and every gun holder is accountable and responsible to follow the provisions of the law,” Hidalgo said. INQ