Verzosa: Arrest violators of gun ban

PNP Chief P/DG Jesus Versoza inspect some FA's after his command implement E.O. 817 (Firearms Gun Amnesty last year 2009, Said Amenisty ended last November 30, 2009. Photo supplied

Director General Jesus Verzosa, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, has warned that violators of the nationwide total gun ban in preparation for the May 2010 national elections will face arrest.

Verzosa stressed that only persons of authority, like policemen, soldiers and personnel of other government and private law enforcement and security agencies, in proper uniform and during actual performance of their respective duties are deemed authorized to carry firearms during the period.

The nationwide total gun ban starts January 10 and ends on June 9.

”All persons with firearms while in civilian attire are presumed to be unauthorized and will therefore be arrested on the spot,” said Verzosa.

Verzosa has tapped Deputy Director General Jefferson Soriano, PNP deputy chief for Operations and commander of National Task Force HOPE 2010, to require all Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) units and law enforcement agencies to submit to the PNP photos of their agency's prescribed uniform for proper coordination.

Verzosa said that non-compliance by the concerned agencies of this requirement is presumed that the agency has waived the privilege to bear firearms while in uniform. Thus, they are subject to arrest for violation of the gunban.

For a start, Verzosa earlier ordered the suspension of all Permits to Carry Firearms Outside of Residence (PTCFOR) issued by the PNP during the election period.

He said authority granting police security detail to government officials, very important personalities (VIPs) and other private individuals under threat is also revoked.

"Only PNP, AFP, NBI personnel and protective agents of PDA (Private Detective Agencies) shall be deputized as security detail during the election period provided that these personnel shall be in proper uniform and in the actual performance of official security duties," Verzosa said.

According to Verzosa, all security details are subject to approval of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Committee on the Ban on Firearms and Security Personnel (CBFSP).

Verzosa said "only regular plantilla members of PNP, AFP, and other law enforcement agencies (who are receiving regular compensation for services rendered) are authorized to bear, carry and transport firearms while in prescribed uniform showing clearly and legibly the name, rank, serial number, or in case rank and serial number are inapplicable, the agency-issued identification card showing clearly the name and position (ID card shall remain visible at all times), with valid mission or letter orders, and in the actual performance of official duty or going to or returning from his residence or station."

"Members of privately owned or operated security, Investigative, protective security agencies duly authorized by the PNP, can possess firearms only while in uniform with valid identification card conspicuously displayed and in the actual performance of duty at his specified area of assignment," Verzosa said.

He explained that issued firearms of security guards shall be left or deposited in their respective posts when off duty.

Last year, the PNP also launched an intensified campaign against loose firearms under the National Firearms Control Program (NFCP) which yielded more than 300,000 illegal firearms throughout the country.

Under the program, which was undertaken after the United Nations reported that the Philippines is host to more than one million loose firearms, the PNP also launched a nationwide amnesty for illegal holders of firearms. (PIA- Pagadian City)

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PLAZA CALLS FOR DRASTIC MEASURES TO SAFEGUARD SEA-FARING PUBLIC

Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo “Ompong” Plaza recently urged “drastic” measures against concerned government agencies for their failure to safeguard the lives of the sea-faring public.

The graduating congressman now eyeing a senate seat said that it was not enough that top officials of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Marina, Coast Guard be dismissed from their post but also be made criminally liable for the recent sea tragedy that claimed the lives of at least sixty people.

He urged survivors of the sunken Ro-Ro vessel, MV Baleno 9 to file a class suit against the ship owners and officials of government implementing agencies for negligence and dereliction of duty.

He also called for the immediate inspection of all passenger seagoing vessels in the wake of frequent sea mishaps that had so far occurred in the country and the decommissioning of defective ships.

He said that this kind of vigilance in the shipping industry would only be good for his constituents in Agusan del Sur who mostly go by ships on their way to Manila and other destinations but to all the sea-going public throughout the country.

As congressman for nine consecutive years, Plaza had notched a niche for himself as a protector of the consuming as well as the riding public. He authored House Bill No. 5942, seeking to safeguard 12 million households nationwide from unregulated and unsafe LPG tanks.

The bill now pending in the senate would set regulatory standards on the sale and use of LPG products as well as prohibit the entry here of defective LPG tanks. To date, there are still three million unsafe tanks circulating in the market and another three million subject to further safety testing.

The other measures he made in the area of consumer protection are the Cheaper Medicine Act, the Magna Carta for Older Persons, and the scrapping of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on basic food commodities.

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NUJP launches JUSTICE FUND for massacre victims

On the 40^th day of the Ampatuan massacre which left at least 57 persons dead, including at least 30 journalists and media workers, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) announced the creation of the JUSTICE FUND.

The FUND seeks to raise the necessary finances that will help address the needs of the families of the victims of the massacre including a trauma counseling program, the implementation of a training program for the local media community and supporting the legal and advocacy efforts to seek justice for the victims.

Nestor Burgos Jr., NUJP chair, said that through the FUND, individuals and groups that wish to help can send their donations which will be deposited in an account to be opened specifically for this purpose.

The activities that the FUND will support will be posted on the NUJP website and will be regularly audited by an external auditor, the results of which will also be published and reported to the donors.

NUJP identified five target areas for the JUSTICE FUND: a trauma counseling program for the families and members of local media community; enhancement of the capabilities of media practitioners in Mindanao through a series of training on risk awareness and safety, election reporting, and reporting on culturally and politically sensitive places such as Mindanao; litigation support; public awareness campaigns; and the documentation of other incidents of harassment and attacks on the press in Mindanao.

The JUSTICE FUND also aims to build solidarity between media and the public, and to deepen public understanding of factors that led to the massacre.

“The JUSTICE FUND seeks to build awareness not just on what happened in Ampatuan, Maguindanao on November 23, 2009 but on the system that breeds corruption, warlordism and political patronage which paved the way to the carnage.

The JUSTICE FUND also aspires to encourage a Press that is critical and ethical, zealous of its rights and responsibilities,”.

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Co, Lustestica laud Dr. Jose Rizal for instilling spirit of nationalismo to Filipinos

Pagadian City – Mayor Samuel S. Co praised our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal for teaching the spirit of nationalism to the Filipino people.

In his message during the 113^th death anniversary of Rizal delivered by City Councilor Estrella P. Arao, city officials and employees in a ceremony held at the foot of Rizal’s monument at the city hall complex, the good mayor extolled Rizal’s virtues.

Co said, today, we face a challenge of building a Strong Republic of a Filipino nation by lighting the torch of nationalism that Rizal and the rest of our heroes handed down to our generation in order to achieve peace, unity, stability and progress.

“Without the peacemakers, and if they were alive today, they would have brought the rightists, leftists, separatists, and oppositionists to the negotiating table and argued with them peacefully for the rarity of their ideas,” Co added.

MajGen. Romeo P. Lustestica, Commanding General of the First Infantry (Tabak) Division, Philippine Army, who was the guest speaker of the affair said, “Every year we gather to commemorate the most important event in our lives, and we’re moved with a sense of pride and nationalism.” He also stressed the value of culture of excellence where Dr. Jose Rizal used to be remembered as an epitome excellence.

Lustestica, added that our national hero, Rizal did not only leave to us the dignity of a free and independent nation, but he also left to us, Filipinos of today and of the future, a challenge to always strive for excellence not only for our selves but for the greater majority .

He particularly acknowledged the achievements of our modern day heroes, the likes of Efren Peñaflorida-the 2009 CNN hero of the year., our OFWs, those who have selflessly helped during the evacuation of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, the soldiers who guard peace and stability of our beloved country.

He challenged everyone of not putting in vain the sacrifices done by Jose Rizal and not forgetting him for his noble act of making our country free and independent, adding that Rizal’s heroism reflects his utmost concern for our nation, especially the Filipino youth.

City officials and employees, and civic organizations offered flowers to the national hero as a gesture of respect to him for his greatest contribution in our country. (GCC/PIA9-Pagadian City)

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