IF there’s a will, there’s a way, so the saying goes.
And that’s lucidly real with the leadership of the Northern Police District (NPD) which devised a scheme amid the strict implementation of the gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections in connection with the forthcoming May mid-terms polls.
According to NPD director Chief Supt. Joel Ma. Alvarez, he learns about the police officers’ dilemma regarding their service firearms which they couldn’t carry during their off-duty or when the time they go home for rest because of the existing ban which didn’t exempt anyone except, of course, the highest elected government official of the land that is P-Noy.
Such situation appears to be complex for the policemen as they have been used to carrying their guns even if they’re in civilian clothes or during off-duty when the gun ban was not in effect.
For the general, there must be no problem at all for they can openly bring their guns wherever they go or even during their off-duty or are going back home.
“Well, what they can do is stay in complete police uniform with their identification cards and by doing so they can largely contribute in the police visibility drive which has been intensified by the National Capital Region Police Office,” he says.
The NPD chief then instructs the four police station chiefs, namely, Senior Supt. Rimas Calixto (Caloocan), Sr. Supt. Ferdinand Ampil (Malabon), Sr. Supt. Conrado Gongon (Navotas) and Sr. Supt. Roderick Armamento (Valenzuela), to carry out his plan for the entire members of the police force in northern metropolis.
The general’s scheme appears to bear a “win-win” effect as police visibility will be stepped up and the community and residents especially in Metro Manila will surely emerge victorious in the end.
It’s become normal for some, if not all, police officers to keep their guns even in civilian clothes or off-duty..
But with the ban in effect, they’re prohibited from carrying their service firearms unless they have exemptions issued by the poll body.