• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) once again topped the campaign against the proliferation of loose firearms of the Police Regional Office-Western Visayas (PRO-6) in the first quarter of 2024.
PRO-6 records showed that NOCPPO recovered 329 assorted firearms, 35 explosives, and arrested 66 suspects from January to March.
Meanwhile, the Bacolod City Police Office recovered 41 guns, five explosives and apprehended 14 suspects for illegal possession of firearms.
All over Western Visayas, the PRO-6 recovered 998 loose firearms and 122 explosives, while 182 suspects were arrested.
Of the seized firearms, 189 were recovered from the arrested suspects, while 809 others were either surrendered, abandoned or deposited to various police stations, pending renewal of licenses.
PLt. Col. Arnel Solis, regional police spokesman, said that the PRO-6 is effectively implementing the “Tokhang Kontra Armas Luthang (TKAL)” aimed at revitalizing the campaign against criminality, specifically targeting the proliferation of loose firearms.
This endeavor employs both the soft-hand approach, known as ‘Tokhang Panagbalay’, and the iron-hand approach, which involves strict law enforcement through focused-police operations.
In a statement, PBGen. Jack Wanky, police regional director of Western Visayas, acknowledged the efforts of different units across the region to account the loose firearms and explosives and make arrests.
Wanky further encouraged the policemen in the region to continue to account for the remaining loose firearms to prevent these from being used in the commission of crimes. | GB
