WV cops cap election period with 240 gun ban arrests

By Jennifer P. Rendon

As the five-month election period ended June 8, 2022, so was the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) gun ban enforcement.

The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) on Thursday reported that 240 persons were arrested for gun ban violation since it started on Jan 9.

PRO-6 records showed that a third of the violators, or 80 persons, were arrested in Negros Occidental province.

The Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) arrested 42 persons; Aklan PPO with 28; Antique PPO with 26; Iloilo City PO with 24; Bacolod City PO with 20; Capiz PPO with 12; and Guimaras PPO with 18.

Police also confiscated 138 assorted firearms and 115 various types of bladed weapons.

Cases for violation of Comelec Resolution Number 10728 were filed against the suspects.

Promulgated on Nov. 10, 2021, Comelec Resolution No. 10728 sets the “Rules and Regulations on the Ban on the (1) Bearing, Carrying or Transporting of Firearms or Other Deadly Weapons; and (2) Employment, Availment or Engagement of the Services of Security Personnel or Bodyguards During the Election Period of the May 9, 2022 National and Local Elections.”

This year’s arrest is way lower compared to the 2019 midterm elections.

Meanwhile, Brigadier General Flynn Dongbo, Western Visayas police chief, lauded all unit commanders and personnel of PRO-6, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard and the Comelec for the collective effort in enforcing Comelec checkpoints across the region which contributed to the successful conduct of the May 9 elections.

These arrests are the product of our close coordination, strong collaboration and strict implementation of the Comelec Resolution through checkpoints, he added.

Dongbo believed that the arrest of the violators prevented them from potentially creating unlawful actions due to their possession of deadly weapons and firearms.

PRO-6 has earlier declared that the recently concluded elections in the region was generally peaceful and successful, as no major and election related violent incidents were recorded.