GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Police units in Region 12 have stepped up their operations to recover nearly 30,000 unlicensed or loose firearms in the area.
Supt. Aldrin Gonzales, public information officer of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-12, said Wednesday their records showed that only a total of 5,170 firearms in the region had so far been issued with proper licenses out of the 34,707 registered firearms.
Based on the figure, Gonzales said the number of loose firearms in the area currently stands at 29,537.
“We have intensified our operations to properly account for these firearms and prevent them from going into the hands of criminal elements,” he said in an interview over a local television station.
From January 1 to August 6, Gonzales said a total of 592 firearms and 3,578 assorted ammunition were recovered by police operatives in 670 operations in parts of the region.
He said these were seized during the implementation of search warrants, illegal drug buy-busts, and checkpoint operations.
The police official said some 246 suspects were arrested and 198 cases for illegal possession of firearms have been filed in various courts in the region.
Aside from these, Gonzales said a total of 1,242 firearms were surrendered voluntarily by civilians during the period to local police units.
Some 628 firearms were surrendered in Sultan Kudarat, 519 in North Cotabato, 51 in Cotabato City, 43 in South Cotabato and one in Sarangani, he said.
The surrendered firearms are temporarily under the custody of concerned local police units, Gonzales said, adding that owners may later claim them after processing their License to Own and Possess Firearms or LTOPF and other permits.
Firearms that don’t have proper documents will remain in the police inventory pending proper disposition, he said.
“These include undocumented firearms previously used by barangay tanods and other community volunteer peacekeeping groups,” he added. (PNA)
