MANILA, Philippines - Four policemen, an Army soldier and four security guards were among 12 persons arrested for indiscriminately firing their guns as 56 stray bullet injuries during the holiday revelry were recorded nationwide as of 5 p.m. yesterday.
Despite warnings against firing guns to greet the new year, the Philippine National Police (PNP) National Operations Center recorded 26 incidents of stray bullets over the last 24 hours. Fourteen of the cases were in Metro Manila.
The PNP is also investigating 18 other incidents of indiscriminate firing, for which four civilians have been arrested.
PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Wilben Mayor said a total of 40 persons were injured by stray bullets nationwide.
Police arrested Army Staff Sergeant Gorgonio Pogado for indiscriminately firing his gun, which resulted in injury to a five-year-old boy who was playing in front of his house in Rizal.
The boy was hit in the lower left back and right thigh. He was rushed to the Morong provincial hospital where he was reported to be in stable condition.
Pogado was found with a .45-caliber pistol, two empty magazines and eight bullet casings, said Rizal police director Senior Superintendent Bernabe Balba.
Pogado is assigned at the Army training command in Dawsa in Cotabato province.
Balba said a case of indiscriminate firing resulting to serious physical injury would be filed against Pogado, who is now detained in a lockup.
Pogado is also facing summary dismissal proceedings for violating the Armed Forces warning not to fire their guns during the New Year celebrations.
Reports reaching Balba indicated that a drunken Pogado took out his pistol and fired indiscriminately in the air and on the ground in front of his house to welcome the new year.
However, Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said that all unified area commands have not received complaints about soldiers illegally discharging their firearms during the holidays.
“There was no report of soldiers being investigated for indiscriminate firing. It shows that our soldiers are well-disciplined and respect the people in the communities they serve,” Cabunoc said.
“The warnings given to our soldiers were also effective,” he added.
Unlike their police counterparts, the military did not seal the muzzles of their firearms before Christmas.
On Dec. 24, however, two Marines shot each other using their M16 rifles after a heated argument, though it was not considered a case of indiscriminate firing. The shootout left one soldier dead and the other injured.
Four policemen, meanwhile, are facing dismissal from service for allegedly firing their guns during the holidays.
PNP officer-in-charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina said they are presently under custody and appropriate criminal and administrative charges are being readied against them.
“They are all in custody since they were arrested in flagrante delicto or in the act of firing their guns,” Espina said. “We will proceed against them both administratively and criminally. And this will cause their dismissal from the service.”
Espina said PO2 Alger Ballicud of the Manila Police District (MPD) was among the four policemen.
The STAR earlier reported that Ballicud fired his 9mm-caliber pistol in Binondo before Christmas Day at the height of an argument with his wife.
Espina said Ballicud initially went absent without leave (AWOL) but eventually turned himself in to the authorities.
He said administrative and criminal charges have been filed against Ballicud by his superiors in MPD.
“I will personally monitor progress of these cases (of indiscriminate firing of guns). These cases are considered breach of discipline. I am very strict about discipline,” Espina added.
Another was identified as PO2 Mark Ballesteros who allegedly fired four times in the air after his girlfriend rejected him in Tondo on Dec. 31.
The girl’s uncle brought four empty ammunition shells before MPD as evidence against Ballesteros.
The incident allegedly happened about 11:30 p.m. when Ballesteros, a married man, arrived at his girlfriend’s house and confronted her.
Ballesteros even hit the woman, said her uncle, who requested anonymity.
Meanwhile, PO2 Romel Mitra, assigned at Police Station 6 in Batasan Hills in Quezon City, might be dismissed from the service.
Quezon City Police District Director Senior Superintendent Joel Pagdilao said charges including alarm and scandal have been filed against Mitra.
Last Dec. 28 at around 7 p.m. in Novaliches, Mitra, in the middle of a drinking spree, reportedly fired his gun upward because of family problems.
“He was immediately arrested after our people received a call from a concerned citizen identified as Eddie de la Cruz,” Pagdilao said.
Unsealing gun muzzles
Pagdilao yesterday morning led the removal of masking tape from the muzzles of police officers’ service firearms at the Quezon City Police District headquarters in Camp Karingal.
The simultaneous inspection and removal of taped muzzles of PNP personnel in Camp Olivas in Pampanga, meanwhile, indicated that no cop in Central Luzon was involved in indiscriminate firing.
Chief Superintendent Ronald Santos, officer-in-charge of the Police Regional Office-3, noted that the two reported cases of indiscriminate firing in the region were perpetrated by civilians.
Santos identified the revelers as Dan Dojillo, resident of Barangay Sabang in Bataan, and Angelo Olaivar, resident of Barangay Loma de Gato, in Marilao, Bulacan.
He said Dojillo was arrested after he fired his 9mm-caliber pistol into the air last Dec. 29 while Olaivar was arrested by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for firing his .45-caliber pistol.
The Cordillera Police Regional Office (PRO-COR) as well reported that no policemen fired guns during the New Year revelry, although the lone stray bullet fatality came from the region.
“In PRO-COR, no police personnel were reported to have discharged their firearms in the region as of yesterday,” Nerez said.
Espina said Oplan Katok, a PNP drive to account for loose or unrenewed firearms licenses, has netted 156,444 firearms. – Non Alquitran, Ric Sapnu, Rhodina Villanueva, Alexis Romero, Aie Balagtas See