IN a span of nine days, four locally elected officials have been killed in Luzon and in Mindanao by criminals believed to be members of gun-for-hire groups. The most recent political killing have apparently rattled the Philippine National Police (PNP), on which pressure has piled up as citizens wonder aloud how such lawless violence can keep spiraling.
The killings in Batangas, Nueva Ecija, Cavite and in Zamboanga City served to dampen the rosy report on crime statistics that showed crimes have gone down during the past six months as a result of the strong anti-illegal drugs campaign of the Duterte administration.
As authorities worked to solve the slays, PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde saw what may be a holistic approach in ending the killings, and even criminality as a whole, by revisiting the moribund campaign against loose or unregistered firearms.
“We know that every time a shooting incident happens, it is always the loose or unregistered firearm that was used,” Albayalde said. “That is why we want to account [for] all of these firearms.”
More than a million count
Believing that unregistered firearms were behind the successive assassinations, Albayalde ordered all police commanders around the country to recover the more than 1 million firearms that are currently in the hands of individuals who are not authorized to possess guns.
Some of these guns are in the hands of not only criminals, but also lawless armed fighters in Mindanao—where a continuing seizure drive is being carried out by the military under the martial-law declaration in the region.
“As per record, we have a little more than a million loose firearms that we are looking at around the country,” Albayalde said, adding his directive to recover them was part of the government’s anti-criminality measures.
The campaign will also prepare the country for next year’s elections, which are always marked by killings and assassinations of candidates, and even firefights by contesting groups.
“This is all part of our preventive measures. These are all part of our target-hardening measures so that we could also prevent possible hostilities or violence that may still happen in view of the forthcoming midterm elections next year,” Albayalde said.
3-pronged campaign
The PNP chief directed police commanders to synergize the campaign against loose firearms with the crackdown on private armed groups (PAGs) and gun-for-hire groups, which he had also ordered to be undertaken.
Albayalde wanted members of these outlawed groups to be neutralized and accounted for, noting guns are more dangerous in their hands.
“We will intensify our campaign against these gun-for-hire and private armed groups as part of our preventive measures…the order is not only to disarm, but arrest them, put them behind bars,” he said.
According to the PNP chief, there are at least 78 PAGs around the country, most of them located or based in Mindanao.
“We will intensify intelligence gathering, our surveillance. That is one way of monitoring them. Otherwise, if we know where these areas are, then we can apply for search warrants,” he said.
The PNP chief declared that PAGs are being used by VIPs (very important persons), most of whom, however, are politicians and elected government officials.
While Albayalde could not say the exact number of operating and existing gun-for-hire groups, most of them are based in Luzon.
Gun-for-hire groups, which are paid for every assassination work, usually employ two or three members in a murder hit, as in the cases of killings in Nueva Ecija, Cavite and in Zambonga City.
He said those cases, as initial investigation revealed, were perpetrated by gun-for-hire groups.
Albayalde said the three campaigns would be carried out by the police while intensifying their “Oplan Sita” and checkpoint operations, which are also being implemented around the country.
“In the absence of a gun ban, we have to intensify our Oplan Sita, checkpoint operations, the campaign against loose firearms, gun-for- hire and PAGs. These are the things that we will do as preventive measures,” he said.
Gun amnesty
Other than conducting operations against loose firearms, the PNP is also proposing to declare a gun amnesty, which it was looking to implement by next month.
The amnesty allows owners of unregistered guns, or even those with expired licenses to register their firearms with the PNP.
“This is to encourage the owners of loose firearms, especially those that are not really covered by licenses, to register their firearms. This is one way for us to account for loose firearms,” Albayalde said.
Based on the PNP record, the number of gun owners in the country has increased although Albayalde could not say the exact figure.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila, AP/Bullit Marquez