Police holds firearms caravan in Oro

ON THE heels of a crackdown on loose firearms, the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Northern Mindanao held a firearms caravan at Camp Alagar on Thursday to renew expired and revoked firearm licenses.

Senior Superintendent Graciano Mijares, officer-in-charge of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo), said of the 15,000 loose firearms in the region, at least 5,000 are in Cagayan de Oro.

During the caravan, Mijares said only 26 firearms with expired or revoked licenses have been accounted. Of the number, 21 are from Cagayan de Oro while the other five were from Bukidnon.

“The firearms caravan last Thursday was just a kick off because this is a continuous campaign as part of the security measures for the 2013 elections,” he told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.

A similar caravan will also be held on February 15 in Bukidnon.

Loose firearms refer to guns with expired licenses or which licenses have not been renewed, have been revoked or been categorized as “wanted.”

Mijares reminded all gun owners to renew their firearm licenses or face charges or arrest.

He also warned that delinquent gun owners may face the possibility of becoming the subject of a search warrant or may face criminal charges for illegal possession of firearms.

He said notices will first be sent to delinquent firearms owners, advising them to renew their expired licenses before a specified date.

However, if the notice is ignored, he said policemen will be sent to the houses of delinquent firearms owners to personally explain to them the consequences if they fail to renew the license of their guns.

“Those who did not make it last Thursday may coordinate with the respective station commanders in their area or to the Firearms Explosives, Security Agencies and Guard Section of the PNP to process their expired licenses,” Mijares said. (Annabelle L. Ricalde)