The Police Regional Office 6 said March 7 that police operatives all over Western Visayas arrested 70 gun ban violators, 28 of them in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, in line with the May 12 midterm elections.
“These arrests are the product of the collaborative and coordinated effort of member government agencies under the Joint Security Control Center. As the election nears, the conduct of Comelec checkpoints in strategic areas across the region will be strictly implemented,” PRO6 director, P/Brigadier General Jack Wanky said in a statement.
“This is one of our endeavors in ensuring a secure, peaceful and orderly May 2025 national and local elections in the region,” Wanky added.
In the checkpoint operations conducted from Jan. 12, the start of the election period, until March 6, the PRO6 said it confiscated 68 firearms and six gun replicas.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (PPO) has the highest arrest with 20 gun ban violators, Iloilo PPO with 16, Capiz PPO with 10, Bacolod City Police Office with eight, Iloilo City Police Office with five, three each from the Antique PPO, Aklan PPO, and Guimaras PPO, and two from the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 6.
The conduct of Comelec checkpoints and gun ban enforcement are pursuant to Republic Act 7166, or an Act Providing for Synchronized National and Local Elections and for Electoral Reforms, and Comelec Resolution 11067 on the election gun ban, which is in effect until June 11 this year. ||
