Gun ban begins Friday
By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Police Regional Office-6 director, Police Brigadier General Rene Pamuspusan, issued an order calling on the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) to enforce a gun ban in the city during the Bacolaodiat Festival, which begins on Friday, January 31.
According to the order, all permits to carry firearms outside one’s residence are suspended as of 12:00 midnight on Friday until midnight on Monday, February 3.
During the ban, only members of the police and other law enforcement agencies performing official duties, along with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, are permitted to carry firearms.
BCPO is expected to deploy around 800 personnel, who will be stationed along the Lacson Tourism Strip and at the Bacolod City Government Center.
There will also be approximately 100 force multipliers deployed to oversee security.
Meanwhile, the BCPO set an objective of zero major incidents; reducing the number of recorded “focus crimes,” which the Philippine National Police defines as murder, homicide, rape, physical injury, robbery, theft, carnapping, and motornapping; lowering the overall “fear of crime; and increasing confidence in the local law enforcement during the upcoming festival.
According to the BCPO Bacolaodiat security plan, the total crime volume during last year’s festival totaled 27./DGB, WDJ