The city’s 11 police stations have intensified checkpoints to enforce the gun ban and ensure that no gun-related violence will occur during the election period, a ranking police official said on Monday.
Lt. Col. Wilbert Parilla, CCPO deputy director for operations, said the police will strictly implement Comelec rules despite the peaceful situation in this capital city with no election-related violence recorded in the past elections.
The checkpoints will be done twice a day during the 150-day election period that runs from Jan. 9 to June 8, a month after the May 9 national and local elections, he said.
“At the start of the Comelec gun ban, we conducted checkpoints. But it was peaceful and orderly with no arrest reported,” he said in Cebuano in a presser.
To prevent traffic build-up in areas where checkpoints are done during rush hour, the police will assign a “profiler” and the inspections will be done at random, he added.
The profiler will determine which motorcycles will be subjected to visual inspection and a possible check at their utility boxes.
Parilla said during normal hours, the police will exert effort in checking each motorcycle that will pass through the checkpoint.
Asked why the checkpoints are focused on motorcycles, Parilla said most of the shooting incidents here were perpetrated by riding-in-tandem gunmen in motorcycles.
“Usually, the criminals do not use four-wheel vehicles,” he said.
He added that the police units should follow the standard operating procedures in the conduct of the checkpoints.
“The requirement is that it (checkpoint) should be conducted in a well-lighted area if done during the night, signage must be placed,” he said, adding that cops are directed to show “utmost courtesy” to the motorists and avoid disrespectful behavior.
Comelec Resolution No. 10728 provides that no one is allowed to bear firearms in public places unless they have secured permission from the Comelec’s committee on the ban on firearms and security concerns (CBFSC).
Parilla said violators of the said resolution will face two charges: a case of violation of the Comelec gun ban rules; and the other is for violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act. (PNA)
