By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) yesterday morning warned its personnel against illegally discharging their firearms as the holiday season draws closer.

NOCPPO’s warning was also in response to the stray bullet incident in Cadiz City earlier this week which claimed the life of a one-year-old baby girl.

NOCPPO spokesperson Police Lt. Abegael Donasco said one irresponsible act will cost lives and police personnel are told to avoid “unreasonably” discharging their firearms.

Donasco also said they have not yet received word from the Philippine National Police (PNP) if they will implement “muzzle taping” of service firearms this year which aims to prevent cops from discharging their firearms unlawfully.

Meanwhile, in response to the incident in Cadiz City, Donasco said forest rangers more known in the local dialect as “bantay bukid” are prohibited from carrying firearms.

Donasco said forest rangers’ jobs merely serve as a force multiplier and are not a support unit of the PNP.

She said Cadiz City police are currently trying to determine if the firearm used by the suspect was a loose firearm.

Earlier on Monday, December 6, the one-year-old girl, whom police have requested not to be identified, passed away at a hospital in Bacolod City after sustaining a gunshot wound in the head caused by a stray bullet.

The suspect, 48-year-old Nomar Ayan Berto, a forest ranger for the Cadiz City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), later surrendered to police and admitted that he discharged his firearm.

Berto is now facing charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and is detained at the Cadiz City Police Station.

Cadiz City Mayor Salvador Escalante, Jr., meanwhile, has coordinated with the Department of Social Welfare and Development to see to the needs of the victim’s family.

Escalante is also due to meet with CENRO officials and city’s forest rangers to discuss the incident next week./DGB, WDJ