Rice for loose guns

By Glazyl Y. Masculino

 

BACOLOD City – The 1st Negros Occidental Provincial Mobile Force Company (Nocpmfc) has initiated a program that can urge gun holders to surrender their loose firearms in exchange of rice to address criminalities in the province, particularly shooting incidents.

Dubbed “Armas Baylo Bugas,” Lieutenant Colonel Nazer Canja, 1st Nocpmfc head, said yesterday that the program was conceptualized to address loose firearms.

He recalled that during his stint as deputy provincial director for operations at Nocppo headquarters, they monitored many shooting incidents that affected the peace and order in the province.

Canja said they decided to conduct a dialogue with some residents in Escalante City to check the effectiveness of their approach.

Canja told Daily Guardian that when they received positive feedback, they launched the program on Sept 13, 2020 which aims to give a gunowner a sack of rice for every loose firearm he or she yields.

Facilitators were also given a half sack of rice for each gun holder they encouraged to give up their unlicensed guns.

As of Monday, 45 loose firearms were already surrendered in just two months, and 67 and a half sacks of rice were already released.

Canja said he initially bought the sacks of rice but they were later able to get help from local government units.

He said that the objective of the program is to minimize the occurrence of shooting incidents, to establish and regain the trust and confidence of the community towards the police, to help the people especially those who lost their jobs due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and to sustain the program of the Philippine National Police’s “Kapwa Ko, Sagot Ko.”

Canja said they tapped barangay officials as they can identify their constituents who possess loose firearms in their respective areas.

“Some were afraid that if they surrendered their guns, they will be arrested, but in reality it’s not what they think,” he said.

Since the Nocpmfc is assigned in areas covering the northern part of the province, they were able to launch the program in the cities of Silay, San Carlos, Victorias, and Escalante, and the towns of Don Salvador Benedicto and E.B. Magalona.