BAGUIO CITY — Seven persons, including five teenagers and a minor, were arrested in separate police operations in the highland provinces of Kalinga, Ifugao, and Benguet in a span of seven days, the police regional office reported on Thursday.
Police Regional Office Cordillera (Procor) director Chief Supt. Rolando Nana said the police will look into the extent of involvement of teenagers in illegal gun possession.
“We want to look at the cases to further look into the situation and hopefully address the issue,” Nana said in the Ilocano dialect. “We will study the volume of cases of illegal possession of firearms, where minors are involved, so that aside from implementing the ‘Oplan Bakal Sita’, we can come up with specific programs to address cases involving teenagers and minors.”
In a report released to the media, out of the seven arrested persons, five were teenagers, including a 16-year-old, which is considered a minor.
Five firearms of different calibers were seized from the suspects.
Nana said the lone 16-year-old minor was brought to the custody of the municipal social work office in Benguet province’s capital town of La Trinidad.
He narrated that in the evening of July 7, the minor brought out his homemade caliber .22 handgun out of frustration when the store owner refused to sell him alcoholic drinks. Fortunately, the store owner quickly grabbed the gun from the minor and called the police.
Arrested in Balbalan, Kalinga were Bernard Legaspi Velasco Jr., 19 and Kevin Dave Gammad Dalere, 18, after they were found in possession of caliber .45 Colt loaded with eight live ammunitions. Police flagged them down while on board a motorcycle without a plate number.
The two others, Arnolfo Domingo and Angelo Lamao Gunnawa, both 19 years old, were caught after a brief chase as they tried to evade operating units on the night of July 2 in Barangay Bulanao in Tabuk City.
Nana said the two sped away on a motorcycle after seeing policemen in the midst of an “Oplan Bakal” (operation plan metal) pursuit, prompting the law enforcers to chase them. A Smith and Wesson caliber .38 loaded with five live ammunitions was seized from the two.
In Ifugao province, Jerry Baldino, 30, of Tinoc town and Domingo Natalac, 25, of Asipulo town, were intercepted in a checkpoint in front of the Lamut police station on the evening of July 3 while onboard a motorcycle. They yielded three guns — a caliber .45 loaded with five live ammunitions, a magnum 22 loaded with three live ammunitions, and a caliber .38.
Nana said charges for illegal possession of firearms were filed against those nabbed.
In a text message, the Cordillera police chief urged those with unlicensed guns or firearms with expired licenses to surrender their guns to avoid being caught for violation of the firearms law, which is a criminal offense.
Nana also commended the personnel on the field for their anti-criminality efforts.
He directed all Philippine National Police units in the Cordillera Administrative Region to launch more operations against loose firearms. (Dionisio Dennis, Jr./PNA)
