PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief, General Debold M. Sinas, has ordered an intensified effort to recover PNP-issued firearms to police officers and men who have failed to surrender them after they were dismissed from the force for various criminal and administrative offenses, the Journal Group learned yesterday.

The top cop said the massive firearms’ accounting and recovery program is being spearheaded by the PNP Directorate for Logistics headed by Major Gen. Angelito A. Casimiro.

“We have our Oplan: Bawi which is a program to recover our missing firearms. We have a Board of Survey which studies the civil and criminal liability of policemen who have failed to turn over their PNP-issued firearms upon official demand,” said Casimiro.

The move aims to prevent the possibility that PNP-issued firearms may be used by dismissed or suspended policemen in committing other crimes or creating trouble in their neighborhood, and worse, harassing people who have filed criminal or administrative complaints against them.

As of last March, 1,818 firearms issued to different Police Regional Offices which are subject for recovery by the PNP have been accounted for by the PNP-DL out of the total 2,483 ‘missing’ PNP firearms.

Another 65 out of the 107 firearms targeted for recovery by the PNP have also been accounted for by the PNP-DL last month.

Casimiro said the Board of Survey evaluates the reasons presented by concerned policemen on why they lost their PNP-issued firearms.

“If the Board determines that the PNP-issued weapons were really lost as a result of legitimate anti-criminality operations, the end-users will be exonerated. However, those who lost their guns due to negligence and mistake will have to face administrative cases which may result to their dismissal from the force or demotion in rank,” the PNP Director for Logistics said.

Casimiro said policemen who failed to surrender their weapons after they were dismissed from the PNP for different criminal and administrative offenses will find themselves facing charges for malversation of public property.

“Dismissed policemen who failed to surrender their PNP-issued firearms are being charged in court. Once warrants for their arrest are issued, they will be the subject of a police manhunt and may eventually be arrested in their last known addresses, the places they regularly frequent, even in police checkpoints,” the official said.

Sinas said he first ordered the full implementation of the PNP Oplan: Bawi when he was still the Police Regional Office 7 director in Central Visayas and later when he became the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director in Metro Manila.

“We send three demand letters to the concerned policemen, with all our actions being monitored by the PNP-DL and the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management. In fact, we filed a number of cases against those who failed to yield their PNP-issued firearms,” the PNP chief said.

Sinas said the Board of Survey thoroughly investigates the claim of concerned policemen that they lost their PNP-issued firearms due to rescue and anti-criminality operations and calamities and other acts of nature like massive flooding, powerful typhoons and sea disasters. “The Board investigates policemen who declared they have lost their guns. If their PNP-issued firearms went missing in their homes, the Board will find out if there was negligence on their part,” he said.

There have also been cases in which PNP-issued firearms were recovered from persons with questionable characters, in the hands of criminals, Sinas said. In such cases, the PNP will investigate if the guns were either deliberately ‘pawned’ by the policemen-users or were merely stolen from them.

Sinas said they also have to make some considerations if the weapons were lost during encounters with heavily-armed criminals in the field.

He said this is the same reason why they have their regular ‘showdown’ which is aimed at checking the PNP-issued firearms of their men.

“When I was still the NCRPO director, we discovered the presence of two Metro Manila policemen who were not using their PNP-issued guns during our proficiency firing. They were investigated, kasi bakit ibang baril ang ginagamit nila. Kung ganun ang gusto nila, wag na lang silang bigyan ng PNP ng baril,” he said.

Sinas made it very clear: any policeman who will be found to have pawned or sold his issued firearm to another individual will be facing criminal and administrative charges for grave misconduct and graft and corruption and will be fired from the police force.

Last month, the NCRPO headed by Major Gen. Vicente D. Danao Jr. accounted for 661 of the 792 firearms subject for recovery by the Metro Manila police.

The recovery rate of the other Police Regional Offices last month are the following:

Bangsamoro Administrative Region Police Regional Office—38 of 46; Cordillera Police Regional Office—8 of 12; Police Regional Office 1—8 of 9; PRO2—only 1 to be accounted yet; PRO3-206 of 234; PRO4-A—133 of 336; PRO4-B—12 of 36; PRO5—20 of 20; PRO6—36 of 45; PRO7—81 of 96; PRO8—27 of 46; PRO9—250 of 272; PRO10—250 of 271; PRO11—10 of 20; PRO12—186 of 197; and PRO13—103 of 109.

Sixty-five of 107 firearms issued to different PNP National and Administrative Support Units have also been recovered to date.