25 arrested for violating gun ban

CEBU, Philippines — At least 25 individuals were arrested by the police in Central Visayas amid the implementation of an election gun ban by the Commission on Elections.

The ban on bringing firearms and suspension of the license to bring these firearms has been imposed since January 9 and will end June 8.

To monitor this, the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines and the COMELEC have put up a series of checkpoints on the streets.

Approximately a week after its implementation, the authorities have arrested 25 violators who were intercepted during a series of checkpoints.

This is according to the data gathered by the Police Regional Office (PRO)-7 through its Regional Election Monitoring Action Center (REMAC)-7, as of Wednesday, January 19.

Confiscated from these violators were 13 unregistered firearms, fragmentation hand grenades, and other deadly weapons and ammunition.

The confiscated firearms were determined to be caliber .38 revolvers, caliber .45, and caliber 9 mm pistols.

Others also yielded some packs of illegal drugs.

The authorities have established a total of 1,615 checkpoints in relation to the gun ban.

The arrested violators will face the charges of violation of Republic Act 9165 the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and RA 10591, also known as the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.

In line with this, Police Brigadier General Roque Eduardo Vega, PRO-7 director, said that they will sustain this strict implementation of the gun ban as he announced that they will conduct checkpoints with more police visibility.

"We will closely monitor situations and election-related activities in Central Visayas round-the-clock through our REMAC. Rest assured checkpoints are conducted following the standard operating procedure of the PNP and IATF guidelines on minimum public health protocols," Vega said.

It was reported that the checkpoints began at 12:01 a.m on January 9 and will end on June 8, 2022 as mandated by the Commission on Elections.

Law enforcers who are off-duty and are not in their prescribed uniform are also not allowed to bring their issued firearms. — KQD (FREEMAN)