Palace not keen on gun ban

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang is not keen on imposing a gun ban but stressed that the government is doing its best to curb criminality.

“That is something that will have to be discussed,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing yesterday.

She said the government is concerned about the sensational crimes that happened recently.The Philippine National Police (PNP) has been addressing the problem properly, she added.

Valte said the PNP had launched a campaign to account for loose firearms and gun owners are being asked to renew their licenses.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. also directed the PNP yesterday to step up security and peacekeeping efforts to effectively deter crimes with the onset of the Christmas season.

In a command conference at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, Ochoa, head of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, said the administration is concerned with reports of rising crime incidence and urged police officials to exert all efforts, even beyond their routine operations, to curb criminality nationwide.

“We should not just accept the usual notion that every Christmas season, crime incidence is expected to go up. That should not be the case. If we already know that crime will rise during this time of the year then let us do something new, something out of the box, to prevent this,” Ochoa stressed in the meeting.

The executive secretary said the PNP must increase police presence and conduct high-visibility patrols around the country to fight crime.

Ochoa urged police generals to “go out and be in the field” to have a better assessment of the situation on the ground.

He assured the PNP that the administration was completely behind the police force to help them carry out its mission to serve and protect the public.

PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome said more policemen would be deployed for street patrols this holiday season.

Bartolome, along with the top brass of the PNP, met with Ochoa during the command conference.

He said he had ordered all regional police directors to deploy personnel performing administrative tasks into the streets from 8 to 10 a.m. and from 3 to 5 p.m.

According to Bartolome, 15 percent of police officers are assigned to administrative duties while 85 percent perform operational tasks.

But office staff would effectively be lessened with only key personnel remaining to do essential duties during those hours mentioned in order to strengthen field presence, he said.

Bartolome told police regional directors to go after all wanted persons in their respective areas.

He said he has ordered all provincial police offices to account for between 100 and 150 wanted persons per month, starting next month.

He also ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to account for a minimum of 50 wanted persons each month.

Aurea Calica, Philippine Star