Azurin vows to strip licenses of erring gun owners

MANILA, Philippines — Saying they have no right to keep and bear arms, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. vowed to strip the gun licenses of people caught indiscriminately firing their guns during the New Year revelry.

Azurin ordered PNP Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) chief Col. Paul Kenneth Lucas to start the proceedings for the revocation of the gun licenses of violators.

“The FEO chief is directed to consolidate the names of those who violated the law on firearms use and to revoke their licenses without delay as well as initiate the filing of appropriate criminal cases,” Azurin said in a statement.

At least three people, including a member of the Philippine Coast Guard, were arrested for indiscriminate firing in Manila, Quezon City and Iloilo.

A member of the Special Action Force was collared for the same offense in Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya on Dec. 30.

Azurin vowed no mercy for the violators, especially police officers and other members of uniformed services.

“As I have warned at the onset of the holiday security operations, criminal liability for indiscriminate firing is further aggravated if the offender belongs to the uniformed services,” Azurin said.

Meawhile, a woman was injured by a stray bullet from a gun fired by her nephew hours after the New Year in Malate, Manila.

The suspect, identified as Mark Galicia, was having an argument with his partner when he fired his gun at a concrete fence at around 3:30 a.m., police said.

The bullet ricocheted and hit Galicia’s aunt Veronica Ramirez, 64, in the leg.

A complaint for serious physical injury was filed against the suspect, who escaped.

The suspect will also face charges for illegal discharge of firearm.

Despite the cases of indiscriminate firing, Azurin said the traditional holiday celebration was generally peaceful throughout the country.

The peace and order indicator, which categorizes crime incidents that occurred from Jan. 1 to Dec. 30, dropped by 11.88 percent from 234,635 in 2021 to 206,765 last year, he said.

Azurin attributed the peaceful holiday season to the PNP’s intensified law enforcement and public safety operations.

The defense posture of the police and military units prevented the New People’s Army (NPA) from staging attacks during the holiday season, he said.

There were no recorded hostilities from the NPA despite pronouncement of some of its leaders that they would step up attacks against government installations in honor of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Ma. Sison, who died on Dec. 16.

Azurin commended police officers and other frontliners such as doctors, firefighters, medical staffers and local government units for performing their duties well during the holidays.

“The zero casualty is a huge success, which can be attributed to the effectiveness of the performance of those who were tasked to secure the public,” he said.