PNP: 5 wounded by illegal gun discharge, stray bullet ahead of New Year

MANILA, Philippines — Five individuals, so far, were wounded  by indiscriminate firing of firearms and stray bullets in the lead-up to New Year 2025 revelries, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The cases of illegal gun discharge resulted in four injuries, while a one was wounded by a stray bullet, PNP Spokesperosn Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said.  She did not provide a breakdown of where these incidents occurred.

PNP’s Ligtas Paskuhan (Safe Christmas) monitoring logged 15 cases of illegal gun discharges and four cases of stray bullets from Dec. 16 to 6 p.m. of Dec. 29, Fajardo told reporters in a Viber message Monday.

Of the 15 cases of indiscriminate firing of firearms, six were from Calabarzon (Region 4A), four from Metro Manila,  two from Central Visayas (Region 7), and one each from Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9), Davao (Region 11) and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

Three of the stray bullet cases were reported in Metro Manila and one  from the Zamboanga Peninsula.

Ten individuals were arrested for indiscriminate firing of firearms, with nine firearms confiscated, according to Fajardo.

Seven of the arrested individuals are  civilians (five in Calabarzon, one each in Metro Manila and Central Visayas) while the three others are a security guard, a PNP personnel from Calabarzon, and a Bureau of Corrections personnel from the Zamboanga Peninsula.