No muzzle taping of cops’ guns

By: Jennifer P. Rendon

Taping the muzzle of PNP’s government-issued firearms during the Holidays is a thing of the past.

And just like his recent predecessors, PNP officer-in-charge Lieutenant General Archie Francisco Gamboa is also not keen on requiring the personnel to tape and countersign their guns, a move that sought to discourage cops from indiscriminately firing their firearms on New Year’s Eve.

Saying that the PNP is a disciplined body, Gamboa said the organization has come a long way already.

“Malaki na ang pinagbago. Our policemen now know that when they fire their guns during the Yuletide season, it a dismissible offense. At the rate were going now, dismissing two policemen per day, they don’t want to be part of the statistics,” Gamboa said.

Recently, two policemen figured in a shooting incident inside their headquarters in Jordan, Guimaras early morning of Dec. 25, 2019.

The victim, Police Staff Sergeant Jeremy Minerva, 35, of Arevalo, Iloilo City, and the suspect, Police Corporal Erwin Ferrer, 33, a resident of Buenavista, Guimaras, are members of the Guimaras Provincial Mobile Force Platoon.

Ferrer allegedly shot Minerva while they, together with Police Corporal Francis Joe Sartaguda, grappled for a gun.

Ferrer will be charged for frustrated homicide but the trio will be probed for possible administrative lapses.

It was gathered that both Ferrer and Minerva were drunk when they went inside the camp.

For Gamboa, it all started with policemen drinking liquor.

“Whenever you drink and you want to enjoy the merriment of the Yuletide Season, you should be in control of yourself. Ganun din siguro ‘pag bata, nag e-enjoy ng husto,” he said.

But PNP members, Gamboa said there’s a different requirement.

“There’s so much at stake which is public service. Dapat kung mag enjoy, tamang tama lang. Alam naman ng lahat ‘yan,” he said.

If you use your firearm not in accordance your function as a law enforcer, then you’re in for a big trouble, Gamboa said.

This, he said, might be the reason why a rookie policeman took his life after accidentally killing his friend evening of Dec. 24.

Patrolman Dionel Lutao, 26, of Barangay 1, Victorias City, Negros Occidental, allegedly killed himself after he accidentally shot his friend, 26-year-old James Karl Sernal, while in a drinking session at a house of an SK chairman at Barangay 21, Victorias City.

“I hope what happened will serve as a lesson for other policemen,” Gamboa said.

He said he will have no second thoughts in dismissing cops who violate PNP regulations.