By DANNY O. SAGUN

THE provincial government has set aside P30 million for the purchase of firearms for the barangays.

But the firearms would only be shotguns, not the fancied high-powered long or short ones, Gov. Amado T. Espino clarified Thursday in a radio interview.

“Aliwa ya armalite o machine gun odino (caliber) .45 ya sarag dan ibulsa ya awiten ed paway,” (It’s not Armalite or machine gun or caliber 45 pistol that they can bring with them outside),he said.

The idea is to provide barangay chairmen some sort of protection against criminal elements especially in far-flung barangays, the governor argued.

“At least wala met so iyarap dad saray manggegetmay makapuy ed saray lugar da,” (At least they will have something to stop troublemakers in their places) he noted.

Espino defended the gun purchase amid his earlier move of imposing a total gun ban in the province. Observers saw the two moves as contradictory.

Arming barangay captains was a campaign promise reportedly made during the last elections.

Espino, a former police official, further clarified that arming barangay officials does not mean the province is being portrayed as having peace and order problems. “No, not really,” he said.

The awards given to the local police only showed that law enforcement agencies here are doing their job. The provincial police office and the Dagupan city police station were adjudged the best in the country in their respective categories.

“I could claim ya akatulong so provincial government ed impakaala da na saratan ya awards,” (I could claim that the provincial government helped in their winning the awards) he said. (DOS/PIA)