9 gun toters nabbed on last day of firearms ban

PNP Director General Alan Purisima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—They just couldn’t wait.

Nine gun owners were arrested on June 12 —the last day of the gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec)—for carrying their firearms outside their residences, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.

PNP Director General Alan Purisima said police across the country arrested 3,704 individuals for carrying guns outside their houses without a Comelec permit during the 150-day gun ban period that began on Jan. 13.

Among them were 23 soldiers, 52 policemen, 42 other government officials and 154 security guards.

According to Purisima, police Task Force SAFE (Secure and Fair Elections) in November 2012 was instrumental in enforcing election laws and harmonizing anticriminality operations during the election period.

“The achievement of the PNP is the success of our people” said Purisima in an e-mailed statement.

“Again, I commend all our PNP personnel who performed very well before, during and after the election period as well as our fellow public servants in the Armed Forces, Comelec, other government and nongovernment agencies and, most especially, the community,” he said.

So far, Purisima said, the PNP has filed a total of 2,441 criminal cases against those arrested for the gun ban in violation of the Omnibus Election Code and the Marcos-era Presidential Decree No. 1866.

Only 207 of the cases, however, had been forwarded to the courts for prosecution.

With the lifting of the gun ban, the PNP chief ordered police units to continue the intensified campaign against loose firearms, “because of its proven effectiveness in preempting illegal activities and in taking away instruments of crime and violence.”

Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr., PNP spokesperson, said only gun owners with a “permit to carry firearms outside residence” from the PNP are allowed to carry firearms outside their residences.

During the gun ban period, Purisima said 3,596 firearms and over 30,000 rounds of ammunition were seized at checkpoints and in police operations.

He said the PNP also confiscated 163 gun replicas, 1,082 bladed weapons and 758 explosive devices.