Loose firearms in Ecija add to peace, order woes

CABANATUAN CITY—The proliferation of more than 5,000 unlicensed guns is like a thorn on the side of the police force of Nueva Ecija province, making it difficult for policemen to successfully enforce the police’s peace and order campaign, according to the province’s highest ranking police official.

“Possession of loose firearms is a crime in itself. More than that, murders, some homicide cases, robbery and forcible taking of tricycles and motorcycles, were attributed to the use of loose firearms,” Senior Supt. Crizaldo Nieves, provincial police director, told reporters in a forum here on Monday.

Nieves said records showed that most violent crimes are committed by men armed with unlicensed firearms who use motorcycles to flee more quickly and ski masks to hide their identities.

He said some residents keep unlicensed firearms in the belief that having guns is a form of protection against crimes.

He said only a few of these gun holders surrendered their unlicensed firearms despite the police’s appeal and the drive to recover them. Some of the guns were seized in police checkpoints.

According to Nieves, police recorded 191 murder and 193 homicide cases in the province last year, many of these carried out with the use of guns.

Nieves has assigned one policeman to each of the 849 villages in the province to strengthen efforts to keep peace and order.

In coordination with barangay (village) officials, he said, the policeman assigned to a village would be asked to keep a record of people keeping firearms in his area of jurisdiction. Anselmo Roque, Inquirer Central Luzon