MANILA, Philippines — Stressing that police officers are disciplined, the Philippine National Police (PNP) will again skip the sealing of the muzzles of the service firearms of its personnel during the Yuletide season this year.
PNP public information officer Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said yesterday they see no reason to bring back the tradition of sealing the firearms of police officers.
“It’s been a long while since we stopped the practice of putting tape on the firearms because we believe that our police are more responsible and disciplined,” she said in an interview over dzBB radio.
The PNP used to impose a gun muzzling policy to prevent police officers from indiscriminately discharging their firearms during the Christmas and New Year revelries.
“They know that they may face charges and may even be dismissed from service,” she said.
Nearly 40,000 PNP personnel were deployed for the holidays, securing churches during the Simbang Gabi or dawn masses, transportation hubs, major roads, seaports, airports, commercial establishments, vital installations and other places of convergence.
The PNP went on heightened alert on Dec. 15, which means that 75 percent of the 232,000-strong police force are available for deployment.
Fajardo said the heightened security would last until the procession of the Black Nazarene or Traslacion in Manila on Jan. 9.
While they have not monitored any credible threat to the holidays, Fajardo said the PNP is maintaining its active security stance to thwart lawless groups from carrying out terror attacks.