Monday, January 29, 2007 Rama: Out of town, frisked and poked By Karlon N. Rama Stage five
AN INVITATION to go to Panglao Island got me catching the 9 a.m. fast boat to Tagbilaran City, Saturday, and towards my first out-of-town travel since the gun ban began.
And if the security protocol inside the boat terminals of the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) is any indication, the firearm prohibition is indeed in effect.
I was made to pass through a metal detector, frisked from top to bottom by a security guard and got commanded to open my bag for inspection when their detectors found box-shaped metallic item with wires among my possession.
They poked and poked and poked until they found the suspicious item– my old yet still reliable Zire 73 palm pilot with its charger.
One of my travel companions, Atty. Alvin Butch Cañares, formerly of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas but now in private practice, wasn’t so lucky.
His Tanto-tipped pocket knife, something that I’ve known him never to leave home without, triggered the metal detectors and he got ordered to present the Cold Steel folder and an identification card.
Butch, traveling with his newly-wed wife, Reigh, got a break afterward. The knife was deposited with the security guard traveling with the boat and it got returned to him after our arrival at the port of Tagbilaran.
I never had problems transporting my firearm through CPA-run piers and terminals. All they require is for the traveler to present his or her firearm license and transport documents. The gun ban makes it hard to secure transport documents. But I’m sure when the prohibition period is over, or when exemptions for practical shooting athletes finally get issued, everything will be back to the way it was.
Next week, the trip and the lovely Hitia at 17.
NO CIVVIES. Speaking of transport hitches, the Philippine National Shooting Association (PNSA) held a tune-up match for the upcoming 2007 Thailand Southeast Asian Games qualifier, Friday and Saturday, but no shooters from the civilian sector were able to attend.
Athletes from the Armed Forces were in full force, however, with the Philippine Navy Shooting Team staging a performance worthy of a 21-gun-salute. Thankfully, they never have to worry about permits to transport and gun bans. The sailors dominated both the male and female individual categories in both the 48-round and the 150-round Practical Pistol Course and clinched the team trophy in the event held at the Philippine Marines Firing Range in Fort Bonifacio.
In the women’s division of the 48-round event, LTJG (Lieutenant Junior Grade) Marly Llorito, the event’s silver medal winner in the 2005 Sea Games and current Navy Shooting Team Captain, clinched the gold. LTJG Carmelita Guillermo landed with the silver while 1st Lt. Gemma Gomez of the Navy’s Marine Corps and Sgt. Josephine Martin of the Philippine Army shared the bronze.
In the men’s division, the gold went to Maj. Jovito Teneza and S/Sgt. John Costales, both from the Marines, clinched the gold and silver. The bronze went to a certain S/Sgt. de Guzman of the Army.
In the 150-round event Capt. Noel Tiu of the Marines clinched the top spot, scoring 1465 from a perfect score of 1500, for the gold. S/Sgt. Clarence Pukya of the Philippine Army’s internationally-exposed Army Shooting Team settled for silver, scoring 1,458 of 1,500. Fellow team member Sgt. Glenn Macinas captured the bronze at 1,455. But the excitement stayed with the women. In the 150-round event, Llorito again showed dominance and scored 1467 of 1500, outscoring the army snipers and the Navy’s own guns in the men’s event.
LTJG Elaine Sugumbre captured the silver with 1433 and Guillermo made a comeback by shooting 1425 and taking the bronze. The shooters will compete again during the Sea games qualifying event on March. And Marly, when I spoke to her after her game, said the team is confident in getting most if not all of the slots.
“Our problem right now is logistical. We spend for our own bullets during practice and I don’t know how long we can sustain this,” she said.
