KEEPING with the practice over the past six years, the guns of the 226,000-strong police force won’t be sealed anew this period although Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. said there will be no mercy to cops and civilians who will be found to be involved in cases of indiscriminate firing before and during the New Year revelries.

The top cop has reminded all his commanders to be on the lookout against indiscriminate firing and ordered crack police teams to immediately arrest anybody who will be reported to have fired a gun in the air without any reason at all. He said violators will be severely dealt with to the fullest extent of the law.

“There shall be no mercy to PNP personnel who will be involved in this illegal activity, while immediate superiors will be held accountable too,” he said.

The PNP chief reminded all gunholders of their responsibility not to indiscriminately fire their guns while in revelry and merry-making.

“The full might of the law will be applied to anyone who will fire a gun to celebrate the holidays, much more if the violator belongs to the uniformed services, dismissal from the government service shall be swift,” he declared.

The PNP chief said there will be no ‘muzzle-taping’ of the police’s firearms this year since he has complete confidence that uniformed personnel will not use their firearms illegally during the rest of the holidays.

However, he underscored the need for maximum police visibility in the streets. “It is during this time that policemen should be on alert and people should see more cops on the street as it is expected that criminals would go around preying on the public,” Gen. Azurin said.

The PNP first veered away from the practice of taping the guns of each and every member of the uniformed force in 2016. Before that, the PNP has been known for its tradition of the annual sealing of policemen’s guns across the country to prevent incidents of indiscriminate firing during the holiday revelries.

“HIGH LEVEL OF DISCIPLINE”

PNP officials said the move was meant to show that policemen are ‘disciplined and responsible enough’ not to use their guns illegally.

This year, Gen. Azurin said he is sure that his men are disciplined and responsible enough when it comes to the proper use of their service firearms.

The non-sealing of every cop’s gun is also another way of building public trust and confidence on the force as it raises the bar of discipline and promotes responsible use of government-issued firearms among the policemen.

Other officials said that before, the practice of muzzle taping only showed the distrust of the PNP organization to their very own offices and men that as a result, all unit commanders were required to physically put a tape around the muzzle of the firearms of their men.

The tapes are signed by the concerned firearm holder who are then asked to present their sealed gun at the end of the holiday period to prove they have not been fired and have been tampered with.

This time, the PNP leadership trusts and treats every policeman as a responsible law enforcement officer and gunholder who will not violate the law and will only use his firearm in the line of duty.

Besides, the PNP knows that even if the guns of the police force are sealed, some undisciplined members of the organization—the so-called ‘trigger-happy ones’ will still fire their weapons to ‘show off’ during drinking sessions and even at the slightest instance.

The PNP has a policy which holds accountable its chiefs of police and other commanders who will fail to take appropriate actions on cases of indiscriminate firing within 24-hours.

The infraction may even trigger the relief of police chiefs.

At the same time, Gen. Azurin warned civilian gun-holders against indiscriminate firing during the New Year revelries. He said that civilians who will be caught firing their guns indiscriminately will be immediately locked up in jail and slapped with criminal offenses which carries a lengthy jail term.=

Violators who will be found to have licensed firearms will be stripped of their gun privileges including the privilege to have a License to Own and Possess Firearm, a gun license and a Permit-to-Carry-Firearm-Outside-of-Residence.

The PNP in 2014 and 2015 adopted the practice of taping the muzzles of the police force to discourage celebratory gunfire during the Christmas and New Year celebrations. The practice was discontinued during the stint of then PNP chief and now Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ M. dela Rosa.

The practice was followed by dela Rosa’s successors, Generals Oscar D. Albayalde, Archie F. Gamboa, Camilo Pancratius P. Cascolan, Debold M. Sinas, Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar, Dionardo B. Carlos and Vicente D. Danao Jr.

Officials admitted that even if firearms are raped and counter-signed for monitoring, ‘trigger-happy’ cops would still fire if they want to. There were also previous incidents in which police were not able to quickly respond to crimes-in-progress simply because their firearms are taped.

The common complaint before is that many policemen have been hesitant to respond to emergency calls during previous yuletide periods since their guns are taped.

Gen. Azurin said that with the move, they would be able to show to the public that “we are a responsible, professional, dynamic police organization.”

Majority agreed with the PNP chief noting that it really doesn’t look good for the public, especially tourists spending the holidays in the country if they see the guns of PNP personnel with its muzzles taped.

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director, Major Gen. Jonnel C. Estomo said he has ordered an intensified campaign against loose firearms in Metro Manila too to arrest cases of indiscriminate firing.

The NCRPO chief said he has ordered the deployment of additional uniformed policemen in areas where indiscriminate firing of guns happened in the past Christmas and New Year celebrations so violators would be immediately arrested and put behind bars.

Maj. Gen. Estomo has ordered the maximum deployment of uniformed and plainclothes officers including mobile patrolmen with their blinkers turned on to clearly establish police presence in Metro Manila.

He also ordered his men to be on the lookout for criminal elements engaged in common street crimes such as mugging, swindling, gang wars, robbery and theft, and burglary of unattended residences.