PNP tells Comelec: 'Oplan Katok' not intended to harass anyone

The Philippine National Police told the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Monday that the “Oplan Katok,” a door-to-door campaign against expired firearms, is not intended to harass or intimidate anyone amid the election season.

PNP spokesperson Police Brigadier General Jean Fajardo maintained that the said operation is a “regular function” of the police body.

“Regular function po ito as part of regulatory power, authority ng PNP. Particularly kapag mayroon tayong expired licenses po, bahagi ng ginagawa nating intervention ay puntahan itong mga nag-expire na pong licenses,” said Fajardo at a press briefing.

(It is a regular function as part of the regulatory power and authority of PNP. Our intervention to those with expired gun licenses is to visit them door-to-door.) 

“We want to assure the Comelec ay hindi po ito sinimulan dahil sa election po. Even prior to the start of election ay ginagawa na po natin.”

(We want to assure the Comelec that this has started even prior to the start of the election season.)

The PNP made the statement after Comelec chairperson George Garcia said in reports that such operations could lead to abuse of powers by the policemen.

But the police official said that it is willing to sit down with the Comelec to discuss “Oplan Katok.”

“We will be coordinating and sitting down and discussing with Comelec to inform them of the nature itong ginagawa nating Oplan Katok and we want to assure the Comelec, this is not intended to harass anyone po,” said Fajardo.

(We will be coordinating, sitting down, and discussing with Comelec to inform them of the nature of the Oplan Katok, and we want to assure the Comelec that this is not intended to harass anyone po.)

“We want to assure everyone, particularly the Comelec, this is not intended to harass or coerce or intimidate anyone,” she added.

Data by PNP showed that 621,395 notices were issued to gun owners in 2024. Of this number, 16,473 have renewed their gun licenses and 10,676 firearms were turned over for safe keeping. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News

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