• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The relentless efforts of the Police Regional Office 6 toward a gun-free community led to the recovery of 998 loose firearms and 122 explosives, while 182 suspects were arrested in the first quarter of 2024.
Of the seized firearms, 189 were recovered from arrested suspects, while 809 others were either surrendered, abandoned, or deposited to various police stations, pending renewal of licenses.
PRO6 records indicated that the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) recorded the most firearm confiscations with 329, followed by the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) – 188, Antique Police Provincial Office (AntPPO) – 105, Capiz Police Provincial Office (CPPO) – 101, Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6 (RMFB6) – 96, Aklan Police Provincial Office (AkPPO) – 92, the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) – 41, Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) with 34, and the Guimaras Police Provincial Office (GPPO) – 12.
In terms of explosives recovery, NOCPPO has the most with 35, followed by IPPO – 32, AkPPO – 21, AntPPO – 16, CPPO – 9, BCPO – 5, GPPO – 2, ICPO and RMFB 6 with one each.
Of 182 arrested suspects, NOCPPO accounted for 68, followed by IPPO – 45; CPPO – 22; BCPO – 14; ICPO – 11; AntPPO – 10; AkPPO and GPPO with five each; and RMFB6 – 2.
PRO6 implemented the initiative ‘Tokhang Kontra Armas Luthang (TKAL)’ effectively, an initiative aimed at revitalizing the campaign against criminality, specifically targeting the proliferation of loose firearms, according to regional police spokesman PLt. Col. Arnel Solis.
This endeavor, he added, 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, regional police director of Western Visayas, acknowledged the exerted efforts of different units across the region to account for the loose firearms and explosives, and the corresponding arrests made.
Wanky further encouraged WV policemen to continue to account for the remaining loose firearms in the region, to prevent those from being used in the commission of crimes.*
