Gather all info on gun owners, Roxas tells PNP

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II. FILE PHOTO

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas has ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to consolidate all the information it has on gun owners in known election hotspots as part of security preparations ahead of next year’s elections.

“We discussed preparing strategic moves as early as now. The PNP will also implement tactical moves as the elections near to lessen the possibility of violence during the polls,” Roxas told reporters on Monday.

“One of our innovations will be to consolidate the information (about gun owners) from the (PNP) Firearms Explosives Office,” he said.

Roxas said the reports on loose firearms would also be “consolidated and integrated with all intelligence operations to ensure that the PNP would be effective in conducting security operations for the upcoming elections.”

In his first command conference with the PNP at Camp Crame, Roxas directed the 17 regional police directors and other senior officers to begin mapping out their respective operational plans for the elections.

The secretary said the PNP should be able to come up with the list of registered gun owners and those who were granted permits to carry firearms in election hotspots.

He said the database would be given to regional, provincial and town police chiefs “so they will know the individuals and groups that maintain guns, licensed or otherwise, in their areas.”

“With this consolidated and integrated information, the (police) will be ready to take on the challenges during the elections.”

“A lot of it is preparation. A lot of it would be intelligence work. A lot of it will be a training and preparing for the right deployment of resources,” he added.