The Philippine National Police on Monday said it aims to achieve zero-indiscriminate firing incidents as it announced that masking tapes won't be seen in the muzzles of police officers' guns for the Christmas and New Year revelries.
“Our ultimate target is to reduce the 33 incidents of indiscriminate firing and 12 cases of stray bullet injuries last year to zero this Christmas season,” PNP Deputy Chief for Operations, Lt. Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan told reporters in a press briefing in Camp Crame.
Cascolan said the decision to do away with the practice of taping gun muzzles aims to prove police officers are responsible enough.
“During the previous years, [I think] no police officer has fired his gun or has been involved in indiscriminate firing during the holiday revelry," he said in Filipino.
The PNP stopped the practice of holidays back in 2016, under then top cop Ronald dela Rosa.
Cascolan, however, said a one-strike policy will apply to all police commanders and chiefs of police who will fail to take appropriate action on cases of indiscriminate firing by their personnel within 24 hours.
This means the police commanders and chiefs of police will immediately be relieved even if only one of their personnel is caught involved in indiscriminate firing.
Cascolan also urged police commanders to intensify community partnerships in order to identify people in the barangay who possess loose firearms.
He said that in most cases, unlicensed guns are the ones being used in indiscriminate firing.
Cascolan said the same policy applies to communist rebel attacks with the expected escalation of attacks ahead of the founding anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines on Dec. 26.
The CPP anniversary usually comes with rebel attacks on government forces.
Cascolan said the implementation of the one-strike policy would compel police commanders to intensify the security measures in their respective areas of jurisdiction.
"They should know what is going on in the communities under them in order to avert incidents like these," Cascolan said.
He cited a case in 2017 wherein a police station was caught off guard during a rebel attack. During the probe, it was found out that the rebels have been holed up in the houses near the police station a few days before the attack.
Cascolan said PNP officer-in-charge, Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa has ordered all police units in Luzon and Visayas on full alert status effective Sunday for the entire holiday season until Jan. 5, 2020.
The full alert means the highest level of readiness in all police officers and units in Luzon and Visayas.
“When we are on full alert, 50-50, 50 percent will have to be on duty, 50 percent will have to be on holiday season. If they are called for considering there is an emergency that arises everybody should report to their units,” Cascolan added.
Through the PNP Command Memorandum Circular “Paskuhan 2019’, 69,335 PNP personnel backed by 157,264 force multipliers would be deployed across the country for law enforcement and public safety operations.
Cascolan said “Paskuhan 2019” will also address law enforcement issues on illegal firecrackers and the dangerous practice of celebratory gunfire in the holiday revelry.
He specifically instructed field unit commanders to deploy mobile patrol units with blinkers turned on to visibly establish police presence but not necessarily create an undue alarm to the public.
Local police units were also reminded to be on the lookout for criminal elements engaged in common street crimes such as mugging, swindling, gang wars, robbery and theft, and burglary of unattended residences.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has also been placed on heightened alert as it beefs up safety and security measures for Oplan Biyaheng Ayos: Pasko 2019 starting Monday until Jan. 5, 2020.
The move is in compliance with the directive of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade to provide safe and comfortable transportation services to the riding public.
"All PCG units are directed to be on heightened alert and intensify safety and security measures on national ports and ferry terminals this Christmas season to ensure the orderly operations of all sea transport facilities; the safe and covenient travel of the riding public; and the security at beaches and local resorts," PCG Commandant Admiral Joel Garcia said in a statement.
All available assets of PCG are strategically deployed in major ports nationwide such as 55-meter multi-mission offshore vessels, nine 44-meter multi-role response vessels, six 30-meter monitoring control surveillance vessels, two 35-meter search and rescue vessels, and three 24-meter fast patrol boats.
Small crafts, including two 12-meter high-speed boats, 10 seven-meter rigid hull inflatable boats, and several aluminum and rubber boats, are also deployed to ensure that critical ports, especially in the western and eastern seaboard of the country, are monitored against any untoward maritime security incident.
Special Operations Forces, Harbor Patrols, and Ship Inspectors are also stationed at major ports 24/7.
PCG personnel are also manning Malasakit Help desks at major seaports across the country, while in coordination with national security agencies including the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines to ensure zero maritime incident or casualty this Christmas season.