Only 750 shotguns in custody
BARANGAY CAPTAINS DRAGGING THEIR FEET
LINGAYEN—Only a little more than 50% of the shotguns issued by the provincial government to the barangay kapitans last year have been turned over to the police following a recall made in line with gun ban being implemented for the May 2010 elections.
Senior Supt. Percival Barba, police provincial director, told The PUNCH Friday that 750 shotguns are now in police custody while others are awaiting Comelec’s and his action on their appeal for reconsideration.
Barba has set January 25 as the deadline for the turnover of the guns and he said the town police chiefs are ready to go and directly collect the guns from each of the kapitans should it be necessary.
Based on data gathered by The PUNCH, the following towns and city have fully complied with the recall: Anda, Burgos, Dasol, Basista, Labrador, Urbiztondo, Calasiao, Mapandan, Sta. Barbara, Manaoag, San Jacinto, Urdaneta City, Bautista, Binalonan, Sison, Sto. Tomas, and Rosales.
San Carlos City, which has 86 barangays, only had five shotguns returned so far.
Some kapitans in this city, which is in the Comelec’s watchlist for potential election hotspots, are among those who are requesting to keep the gun.
Meanwhile, Barba said he has yet to figure out where to put the shotguns for safekeeping since some towns and cities have as many as 80 barangays each, meaning there would be just as many shotguns that should be put in a secure storage area, not vulnerable to theft or attack by armed groups.
In a related development, the Liga ng mga Barangay led by Board Member Amadeo Espino, wrote Comelec Chairman Jose Melo dated January 18, through lawyer Reddy Balarbar, the provincial election supervisor of Pangasinan, requesting for an exemption from the gun ban.
Barba also backtracked on his earlier pronouncement that he has denied all requests by some of the kapitans who have requested to keep their shotguns in view of their being listed under the Comelec watchlist for potential election-related violent incidents.
Barba said he is now evaluating these requests, however, Espino said the shotguns would be best placed under police custody for the duration of the election gun ban and during the barangay election.
The shotguns were purchased for P30 million and distributed by the provincial government last year, but Gov. Amado Espino Jr. has stressed that by virtue of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), the weapons are now the property of the barangays and subject to police control.
The MOA also specifies that the shotguns should be recalled during an election period.
Barba’s directive for a recall came after Police Regional Director Constante Azares Jr. announced that the total gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) covers, including barangay chairmen, and only exempts officers of the police, military, and other law enforcement agencies.#LM
Gun ban violators arrested
Five violators have so far been arrested by the police since the implementation of the gun ban in line with the May election took effect on January 10.
Among those arrested were one jail officer, a security guard, a member of the civilian volunteer organization and two civilians.
They were all caught in possession of hand guns.#
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