LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Brig. Gen. Mafelino Bazar, Police Regional Office-Cordillera chief, reported that 92 individuals were arrested and 1,149 assorted guns were seized in the intensified campaign against loose firearms in the region in 2022.
Bazar said the Kalinga Provincial Police Office had the highest number of arrests with 26 and 19 filed cases in court.
The Abra PPO was next with 25 arrests and 21 filed cases; Baguio City Police Office with 13 and eight; Mountain Province PPO with 11 and six; Benguet PPO with nine and nine; Apayao PPO with six and six, and Ifugao PPO with two and two.
Bazar said 1,039 loose guns were surrendered by various individuals and stakeholders while 110 firearms were confiscated or recovered in police operations.
The Abra PPO accumulated the most number of loose firearms with 335, followed by Ifugao PPO with 154, Benguet PPO, 153; Mountain Province PPO, 151; Kalinga PPO, 126; Baguio City Police Office, 116; and Apayao PPO, 114.
Bazar cited the Cordillera police for this accomplishment.
“These accomplishments are the result of the continuous conduct of police operations region-wide and engagement with the community through dialogue with the residents and ‘pulong-pulong’ in support of the PNP’s intensified campaign against loose firearms,” Bazar said.