ILOILO CITY—For the year 2020, a total of 491 illegal firearms were surrendered to the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO).
“This was a clear manifestation of the strong support of gun holders to our campaign against loose firearms,” said IPPO Director Col. Gilbert Gorero.
The 2020 report released by IPPO this week found that there was an increase of 333 illegal firearms surrendered last year in the 42 towns and component city of Passi. In comparison, only 158 firearms were surrendered in 2019.
The campaign dubbed as Tokhang Kontra Armas Luthang or Oplan TKAL aims to curb the number of illegal firearms, which may be unregistered or have expired licenses.
“We want to prevent crimes with the usage of these guns,” Gorero told Manila Bulletin.
Based on IPPO records, Sara Municipal Police Station posted the highest number of surrendered illegal firearms with 76.
It was followed by the Lambunao Municipal Police Station with 45 firearms. The municipal police stations of the towns of Janiuay and Lemery each had 30 surrendered firearms.
IPPO also arrested 161 people for having possession of illegal firearms from January to December 2020.
Meanwhile, other owners were encouraged to surrender their illegal firearms this year.
“We are committed to account and recover loose firearms. You better surrender the firearms before a search warrant is issued against you,” Gorero urged.