Stray bullet incidents shoot up to 61—PNP
Philippine police show their pistols that were taped at the muzzle at Camp Crame in suburban Quezon City, north of Manila, Philippines on Monday, Dec. 22, 2014. AP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Stray bullet incidents during the holidays have shot up to 61 as of Sunday morning with one death and 43 injuries.
The Philippine National Police said most of the cases were reported in Metro Manila, which had 18 cases, and in Western Visayas with 13.
The figures were more than double the 30 incidents reported during the 2013 holidays.
In an update, the PNP said 14 of the 43 injured victims were from Metro Manila, followed by Calabarzon which had seven, Western Visayas with six, and the Cordilleras with five.
The sole death reported—that of a young girl—took place in the Cordillera region.
Other cases involved stray bullets hitting homes without causing any injuries.
This was according to the PNP’s monitoring of the holidays dubbed “Ligtas Paskuhan 2014” from December 16 to January 4.
As of 8 am Sunday, the PNP has recorded 24 incidents of illegal discharge of firearms, nine of which happened in Metro Manila.
PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor said 17 persons were arrested for indiscriminate firing.
Seven of those arrested were policemen, four were security guards and the rest were civilians.
Mayor said four of the policemen were apprehended in Metro Manila, two in the Calabarzon, and one in Davao.
“The seven cops will be facing administrative charges, with dismissal from the service as the maximum sanction. This is apart from the criminal charges that they will be facing,” the PNP spokesperson said.
The civilians arrested for indiscriminate firing will be also charged with criminal offenses, while the security guards may also face revocation of their licenses aside from criminal charges.
Earlier, PNP officer in charge Dep. Dir. Gen. Leonardo Espina said policemen found discharging their firearms despite the sealing of the muzzles before the holidays would be investigated to determine if the firing was done in the line of duty.
During the holidays, the PNP seals the muzzles of its men’s service firearms as a warning and reminder against indiscriminate firing, which has claimed many lives during the season over the past years.
The 61 cases of stray bullets and 24 incidents of illegal discharge of firearms are included in the 385 holiday-related incidents that the PNP has recorded so far.
As to firecracker-related injuries, the PNP has recorded 115 cases of victims sustaining injuries from firecrackers.
Most of the incidents were from the Ilocos Region with 24 cases, Northern Mindanao with 21, Metro Manila with 20, and the Cordillera with 19.
Meanwhile, eight fires were reportedly due to firecrackers, with Metro Manila having four incidents. The big fire in Quezon City on New Year’s Day took three lives and injured four others.
In the PNP’s campaign against illegal firecrackers, it seized 127,930 pieces of banned firecrackers mostly in the Caraga Region, in Cagayan and in Western Visayas.
Fifty-five people were arrested for selling illegal firecrackers, mostly from Ilocos where 19 were arrested, followed by Metro Manila where six people were arrested.
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