Bicol PNP target: 30,000 guns

LEGAZPI CITY—Police in Bicol have stepped up their campaign to seize at least 30,000 unlicensed guns in the region, which authorities hope to accomplish by the end of the year, a top regional police official said.

Chief Supt. Jose Arne de los Santos, Bicol police chief, said “Oplan Kontra Boga” is being enforced in Bicol and elsewhere also in preparation for elections next year.

He said as of June, 160 guns have been seized in Bicol. At least 73 of these came from Masbate, a province known for political violence.

De los Santos said police records showed a little less than 30,000 unlicensed guns in the six provinces of Bicol—Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon.

The same records also showed that Masbate had the most gun-related killings in the region with 225 cases since 2009. Mar S. Arguelles, Inquirer Southern Luzon