On top of the recovered items, 19 other weapons, consisting of seven long and 12 short firearms, were surrendered by several individuals, including some village officials, according to Senior Supt. Manuel Cornel, Nueva Ecija police chief.
Cornel said that 22 of the 52 confiscated guns were long firearms. A total of 1,086 assorted bullets were netted by combined forces from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Nueva Ecija police provincial office (NEPPO) and the Philippine Army (PA), Cornel said.
The operatives also recovered “a considerable volume of illegal drugs and drugs paraphernalia,” he added.
The simultaneous operations also resulted to the arrest of 38 people, some of them tagged in the police watch list, according to Cornel.
The items were presented to Director Victor Deona of the CIDG and Chief Supt. Rudy Lacadin, director of the Central Luzon police, Tuesday evening.
Deona said that while Oplan Lambat Sibat’s One Time Big Time drive was a continuing activity of the police, it was stepped up into a “whole government approach” to intensify fight against loose firearms since the start of election period.
“Pinaigting natin ito pagpasok ng election period dahil alam naman po natin na kailangang pag-ibayuhin yung ating campaign lalong lalo na sa loose firearms,” Deona said saying simultaneous operations in a specific province like what they have done in Nueva Ecija will have more sequels.
“Magkakaroon po tayo ng special One Time-Big Time operation at ito’y gagawin po doon sa mga lugar na maaaring magkaroon ng karahasan pagdating po ng halalan,” Deona said.
By whole government approach, all security agencies join forces in implementing search warrants. On Tuesday, they implemented a total of 125 of these which generated 92 positive results.
“Although yung regular na OTBT ng PNP through Lambat-Sibat at whole government approach po natin ay tuloy- tuloy may isiningit lang po tayo na special kung saan yung ginagawa natin at ito ay nakatutok doon sa mga lugar na puwedeng magkaroon tayo ng problema pagdating ng election,” he explained.
Lacadin, for his part, expressed belief that the recovery of the guns will have great impact on the government’s campaign for safe and honest May 9 elections.
“Napakaraming mga armas na ito. Kung ito ay nasa kamay ng masasamang loob you can just imagine yung puwede niang magawang krimen sa ating society,” Lacadin said.
“Ito ay loose firearms hindi natin maisantabi na yung mga may hawak nio ay supporters sa barangay level ng mga kandidato. Definitely yung recovery ng mga loose firearms na ito ay may impact, pwede kasing magamit ito sa election,” Lacadin stressed.
At least 197 crime incidents committed through the use of firearms were recorded in Nueva Ecija in 2015. These included the killing of two village heads and a failed attempt on another in Cabanatuan City.
