Amid shooting incidents: Dumaguete PNP intensifies campaign vs loose firearms

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — In the wake of a series of shooting incidents in this city and elsewhere in Negros Oriental province, the City Police has raised its crackdown against loose firearms that were also used in the illegal drugs trade.

Superintendent James Goforth, Dumaguete Police director, had reassured the public that his command has been doing its best to address the problem via different pro-active approaches, among them the implementation of checkpoints.

Goforth admitted that unlicensed firearms had slipped unnoticed through different entry points to the province and city, such as ports, that do not have tight security measures.

There has been no illegal sale of guns in the city and province, he said, but he believed these weapons have been brought in here, breaching police security lines.

Goforth said he does not believe there is illegal sale of guns here but that these weapons are being brought in from other provinces. 

Police and other law enforcement agencies are however faced with certain limitations and restrictions when conducting checkpoints and inspecting motor vehicles to avoid being charged with violating a person's rights, thus the City Police are now strengthening intelligence gathering to monitor people suspected of owning loose firearms or involved in illegal drugs, said Goforth.

Operations against illegal firearms, such as Oplan Bakal, Oplan Katok and Oplan Sita, have been enforced also by the police, he said.

Goforth said it is a big problem to the police that unlicensed firearms have been directly related to the illegal drugs operations, particularly in shooting incidents which police believed were being perpetrated by certain individuals belonging to rival groups peddling prohibited drugs.

Goforth said public attention is once again drawn to the recent shooting incidents in Dumaguete City but he pointed out that at least, for close to a month and a half, the police had not responded to any call for alarm involving guns. (FREEMAN)