ILOILO City — Nearly half of Western Visayas’ 3,389 barangays have joined a police-led campaign against loose firearms, resulting in the voluntary surrender of 1,735 guns in just six weeks, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) reported.
PRO-6 data showed that 1,639 barangays, or 48.36 percent of all villages in the region, participated in the Restrict, Track, and Turn-In 3389 (RTT 3389) project from August to September 13.
The campaign uses what police described as a “soft hand” approach, encouraging gun owners to voluntarily surrender loose firearms — including homemade guns and firearms with expired or still-being-processed licenses — before authorities resort to enforcement operations.
The project was initiated by PRO-6 under regional director Brigadier General Randulf Tuaño as part of efforts to prevent unlicensed and undocumented firearms from being used in crimes and other acts of violence.
Iloilo province recorded by far the biggest participation, with 982 barangays turning over 1,018 firearms, accounting for nearly six out of every 10 guns surrendered regionwide.
In Capiz, 187 barangays surrendered 209 firearms, while 175 barangays in Aklan turned over 181 guns.
Antique recorded participation from 137 barangays, which surrendered 152 firearms.
In Iloilo City, 97 barangays turned over 111 firearms, while Guimaras recorded 61 participating barangays and 64 surrendered guns.
Tuaño credited local governments, barangay officials, community leaders and police units for persuading firearm holders to voluntarily turn over their weapons rather than risk being subjected to police enforcement operations under what authorities call the “iron hand” approach.
“Lubos nating pinasasalamatan ang ating mga lokal na pamahalaan, barangay officials, community leaders, at higit sa lahat, ang ating mga mamamayan na patuloy na sumusuporta sa RTT 3389. Ang 1,735 loose firearms na boluntaryong isinuko ay hindi lamang numero. Bawat baril na naaalis sa komunidad ay isang potensyal na banta na hindi na magagamit sa krimen o karahasan. Ang pakikiisa ng 1,639 barangays ay malinaw na patunay ng tiwala, malasakit, at sama-samang pananagutan para sa kaligtasan ng bawat pamayanan sa Western Visayas,” said Tuaño.
PRO-6 expects the number of surrendered firearms to increase as police strengthen coordination with barangay officials and encourage more communities to participate in the campaign.
“Patuloy nating hinihikayat ang iba pang barangay at komunidad na suportahan ang RTT 3389. Ang layunin natin ay hindi lamang makamit ang bilang, kundi mapalawak ang boluntaryong pakikilahok ng bawat komunidad sa pagbabawas ng loose firearms,”he added./PN
