Bacolod City – The Police Regional Office 6 reported the recovery of 2,112 assorted firearms and 316 explosives in Western Visayas, from January to June this year, resulting in the arrest of 358 violators.
Regional police spokesperson PLt. Col. Arnel Solis said that 414 of the firearms recovered were seized in focused- police operations, while 1,698 others were either surrendered, deposited, or abandoned by its owners.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office recovered 653 assorted guns, while the Bacolod City Police Office contributed 92 to the accomplishments of PRO 6.
In the same period, NOCPPO also arrested 125 suspects for illegal possession of firearms, while BCPO accounted for 26 violators.
NOCPPO still tops of the list of PRO 6, having the most number of seized explosives at 118, Iloilo PPO – 60, Antique PPO – 49, Aklan PPO – 40, Capiz PPO – 28, BCPO – 11, Iloilo City Police Office – 5, Regional Mobile Force Battalion – 4 and Guimaras PPO – 1.
The Iloilo PPO recovered 367 firearms, Antique PPO – 259, Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6 – 236, Capiz PPO – 208, Aklan PPO – 205, Iloilo City Police Office – 60, and Guimaras PPO – 32.
Solis said the implementation of ‘Tokhang Kontra Armas Luthang (TKAL) is aimed at revitalizing the campaign against criminality, specifically targeting the proliferation of loose firearms.
This endeavor employs both the soft-hand approach, known as ‘Tokhang Panagbalay’, and the iron-hand approach, which involves strict law enforcement through focused-police operations, he added.
In a statement, PBrig. Gen. Jack Wanky, regional police director of Western Visayas, who lauded various police units for their efforts, said their contributions will prevent the occurrence of crimes using firearms. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star)