PNP monitoring loose guns in Ecija

CABANATUAN CITY, Philippines  – The Philippine National Police is on the lookout for “loose firearms” in Nueva Ecija, a traditional election “hotspot” amid an intelligence report that up to 40,000 of such guns are in the province in the possession of lawless elements, the communist New People’s Army and unscrupulopus private individuals.

A report of the PNP Directorate for Intelligence revealed that the number of loose guns, the police term for unlicensed and unregistered firearms, has breached the 40,000 mark in the run-up to the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

The DI arrived at the figures based on the assumption that 10 percent of the male population aged 18 years and above have guns.

Police Superintendent Ed­gar Allan Okubo, group director of the Provincial Public Safety Management Co. based in Guimba town, said the DI report also tagged over 70 crime syndicates in the pro­vince.

But Senior Superintendent Roberto Aliggayu, PNP provincial director who assumed his post in mid-August, was incredulous about the report, saying it’s not the result of a scientific research. He said the figure is too high and would only be believable if it covers the entire country.

“If it’s 14,000 loose firearms, I might believe the report. But then, it’s still too many,” he said, on the sidelines of a command conference at the provincial headquarters here Friday.   

“It’s not scientific but science-tepok,” he quipped, referring to the DI report.