2,100 cops, soldiers to monitor enlisted men’s barrios

At least 2,100 policemen and soldiers under "Oplan Silent Gun" will be monitoring several areas in Metro Manila, including enlisted men’s barrios, where most incidents of indiscriminate firing of guns take place during the New Year revelry.

Metro police chief Director Vidal Querol also directed his five district directors and 37 station commanders to confiscate powerful firecrackers to reduce the number of blast victims.

He placed the 15,000-strong National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on normal alert, but officers will be extra vigilant against indiscriminate firing and the sale of banned firecrackers.

The NCRPO said it would be monitoring housing compounds in Camp Aguinaldo, Villamor Air Base, Camp Crame, Camp Atienza, Fort Bonifacio and Signal Village in Taguig City.

"We will conduct joint patrols with our military counterpart in these areas to send a strong signal that we are dead serious in our effort to curb cases of indiscriminate firing," Querol said during a press briefing at the NCRPO satellite office in Kamuning, Quezon City.

Records of the NCRPO showed that four people were killed while 17 others were hit by stray bullets, four of them seriously, during the New Year celebration last year.

Querol said patrol cars with "Oplan Silent Gun" markings will be roaming the streets of Metro Manila.

Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., NCRPO intelligence chief, said local government units have been asked to designate firecracker zones.

Marikina City was the first LGU to respond, naming the "Freedom Park" in front of the city hall building as a firecracker zone.

Rojas said they have set up 11 checkpoints in strategic areas of Metro Manila, especially at the boundary with Bulacan, the traditional source of firecrackers, to prevent traders from sneaking in banned items.