BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
A total of 100 violators were accounted for by the police in Negros Occidental, including highly-urbanized Bacolod City, during the five-month implementation of the Comelec gun ban which ended June 8.
Of the violators, 80 were arrested by the different police stations being supervised by the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office.
In the same period, NOCPPO also recovered 53 firearms and 32 bladed weapons, while the Bacolod City Police Office confiscated 14 guns and eight bladed weapons, a report of the Police Regional Office 6 said.
In the entire region of Western Visayas, regional police spokesman PLt. Col. Arnel Solis reported that 240 gun ban violators were arrested, yielding 128 assorted guns and 115 bladed weapons.
During the 2019 election period, PRO 6 nabbed 320 gun ban violators, which was higher by 25 percent, compared this year’s apprehensions.
The PRO 6 described the recently-concluded May 9 elections in Western Visayas as generally peaceful and successful in the absence of election related violent incidents.
PBrig. Gen. Flynn Dongbo, regional police director of Western Visayas, said that the arrest of violators prevented them from potentially creating unlawful actions due to their possession of deadly weapons and firearms.
Dongbo also congratulated PRO6 personnel, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard and the COMELEC for the collective effort in implementation of COMELEC checkpoints across the region which contributed to the successful conduct of May 9 polls.
He added that the arrest of 240 gun ban violators are the product of close coordination, strong collaboration and strict implementation of COMELEC checkpoints.*
