Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Weeklong gun ban nets 3 in Cebu City
ONLY three people were arrested by the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) for illegal possession of firearms during the week-long suspension of permits to carry guns outside the residence (PTCFOR).
CCPO Director Patrocinio Comendador said one firearm, a caliber .38 revolver, was also confiscated in Barangay Tejero. But no person was arrested as the gun was found abandoned.
PNP Chief Avelino Razon Jr. ordered the suspension of the permits “in view of persistent threats to national security and public safety.”
The suspension order exempted members of the diplomatic corps, judges, prosecutors and public treasurers carrying large sums of money. The suspension took effect Monday noon last Feb. 25 and was lifted at midnight on March 3.
Suspension order
Based on the records Comendador gave to reporters yesterday, first to be arrested was Jason Pitogo, 25, at S. Osmeña St., about eight hours after Razon issued the suspension order.
Pitogo was arrested after a team of Mobile Patrol Group operatives led by SPO4 Mario Revilla found a .45 pistol from Pitogo’s possession.
Robbery
Last Thursday, Alberto Baluyos Jr., 20, of Barangay Inayawan, Cebu City and Bernabe P. Canoog, 20, who hails from Barangay Mohon, Talisay City, were also arrested in separate operations.
Baluyos had been accused of robbing a woman and killing the victim’s boyfriend who tried to defend her in June last year. He was arrested at 10 a.m. by members of the Pardo Police Station who were responding to an armed person alarm.
The armed person turned out to be Baluyos. A .38 revolver with three bullets was taken from his possession.
Canoog, on the other hand, was arrested after police found in his possession a .38 caliber revolver loaded with five bullets.
The PNP announced that the nationwide gun ban enforced last Feb. 25 was scheduled to be lifted last night.
Razon said the authority to possess firearms issued to some licensed gun holders was to be restored upon the lifting of the ban.
PNP spokesman Nicanor Bartolome said there were three arrests made by police on separate occasions involving gun carrying covered by PTCFOR during its suspension period.
Explosives
Elsewhere around the country, continuing implementation of Presidential Decree (PD) 1866 and Republic Act (RA) 8294 on illegal possession of firearms and explosives resulted in the confiscation of 20 different types of guns from Feb. 25 to March 2, Bartolome said.
In January and February this year, the PNP accounted for 163 illegally possessed firearms in separate checkpoint and gun check operations conducted by different police units. In 2007, the PNP confiscated 2,238 illegally-possessed firearms.
The PNP announced a one-week suspension of all PTCFORs effective Feb. 25, 2008 during the height of mass actions and protest activities to ensure public safety and security, and to make sure no civilians will be carrying guns especially during mass actions.
Bartolome emphasized that ownership and possession of firearms is not a right but only a privilege extended to qualified individuals.
“The issuing authority reserves the right to suspend or revoke this privilege when it is deemed necessary,” he said. (JST/Sunnex)
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