DAYS before the New Year celebration, the Police Regional Office in Davao Region (PRO-Davao) said it will forgo with the ceremonial muzzle-taping of service firearms to show that policemen in the region are disciplined.
In an interview Thursday, December 26, at Freedom Park in Davao City during the indignation rally against the New People’s Army (NPA), PRO-Davao regional director Police Brigadier General Filmore Escobal, however, said although the traditional gun-sealing will not be practiced by the Philippine National Police (PNP) this year, a stricter policy will be implemented with harsh penalty against erring policemen who will fire his or her gun during New Year’s Day revelry.
Escobal warned his unit commanders of a one-strike policy should an indiscriminate firing involving policemen will be reported in their area.
“Kung naay indiscriminate firing nga mahitabo sa ilang respective areas of responsibility, kinahanglan ma-solve within 24 hours. Ang mahitabo one-strike policy pwede ma-relieve ang unit commander (If there will be incident of indiscriminate firing in their area of responsibility, they have to solve it within 24 hours otherwise the unit commander will be relieved),” Escobal said.
He said cops must uphold discipline in handling their firearms to achieve zero death or injury due to indiscriminate firing. This is part of their campaign to prevent illegal discharge of firearms during the holiday season.
Meanwhile, Escobal added that Christmas celebration on December 25 has been generally peaceful, attributing it to increased security measures implemented across the region.
Despite the peaceful holidays, he assured that PRO-Davao will continue to ensure the public’s safety and security amidst the series of explosions in neighboring provinces.
A full alert status will remain in the entire region during the holidays. (JCR)