Strict firearms ban ordered in Metro

Before he was ordered relieved from his post yesterday, Metro Manila police chief Deputy Director General Edgardo Aglipay directed the five police district directors to intensify their campaign against loose firearms following the bloody shootout between cops and robbers on EDSA, Mandaluyong last Monday.

Aglipay said the police should fully implement the gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to deny criminals firearms which they could use in illegal activities. The EDSA shootout left a policeman dead and 12 others wounded.

"I reminded the five district directors to fully implement the Comelec gun ban to make it hard for criminals to carry firearms inside Metro Manila," said Aglipay admitting that his latest directive could be his last.

According to Aglipay, the police should conduct "Operation Bakal" in nightspots and videoke bars in Metro Manila where criminals were reported to be "whiling away precious time" right after pulling off robbery or kidnapping jobs.

But he cautioned police operatives to be ready to accost any armed customers and not be caught off-guard.

The Metro Manila police chief also called for the issuance of additional high-powered firearms to policemen assigned in police cars. He added that only three policemen should man each patrol car to give them adequate maneuver room in case of a gunbattle.

In the EDSA shootout, only one Armalite rifle was issued to the Traffic Management Group (TMG) patrol car. Though outgunned, the TMG operatives engaged the robbers in a shootout, causing injuries to at least two of them as evidenced by bloodstains found inside their getaway car.

"Had the TMG operatives been armed with additional high-powered firearms, the outcome of the firefight could have been different," said Aglipay in an interview early morning yesterday. – Non Alquitran