Unarmed

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

Philippine National Police chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. recently admitted that 20,000 of the 125,000 policemen in this country still have no service firearms. However, he assured the nation that the PNP has been working on programs to ensure that every policeman will be issued service firearms.

One of the measures being considered by General Razon is recalling all handguns issued to scene of the crime operation (SOCO) operatives, members of the chaplain service, and medical and health personnel, since their tasks do not require them to be armed. Priority will instead be given to those conducting patrols, who obviously need the guns more in the discharge of their duties. Aside from the proper redistribution of their current supply of firearms, the PNP is also planning to coordinate with the judiciary to allow the police to use confiscated loose firearms.

Our national obsession with arming all of our policemen, who in this country are instantly regarded as inutile without firearms, needs to be seriously reconsidered. Policemen, if they are truly respected, can still effectively do their jobs even without firearms. Filipinos may find it hard to believe, but the policemen on the beat in the United Kingdom are armed only with clubs, and firearms are deployed only in serious situations, reserved for policemen who have been properly, rigidly and constantly trained in the use of those deadly weapons.

The situation here in the Philippines may be different, and policemen may really need to be armed to the teeth in order to effectively do their jobs. However the leadership of the PNP should consider it their greatest achievement if they could somehow develop a police force that is not as heavily dependent on firearms to maintain peace and order. Such a police force would not only solve the firearm and bullet shortage problem, but it would also give the public comfort that every time they see a policeman with a gun, they are in the presence of someone who is actually qualified, constantly trained and proficient in the use of that firearm.*