Gun ban ends with 111 arrests in WV
The Commission on Elections gun ban ended yesterday with 111 persons arrested in Western Visayas since it started on September 25.
Of the number, 109 are civilians. One is a barangay councilman while the other is a member of the Armed Forces.
The arrests led to the confiscation of 81 firearms, including six high-powered and 75 low-powered guns.
Chief Supt. Cipriano Querol Jr., police regional director, said most of the arrests were made during the conduct of checkpoints operations in line with the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October 25.
Querol said the enforcement of the gun ban helped in curbing election-related violence in the region, citing that only two election-related violent incidents (ERVIs) were recorded by the Police Regional Office 6.
These include the strafing incident in Estancia, Iloilo and the shooting episode in Pontevedra, Capiz.
The commotion that happened during election day in Banga, Aklan is not considered violent, based on police investigation.
The incidents that resulted to deaths in Lambunao and Calinog in Iloilo could not also be considered election-related as these stemmed from conflicts between drunk men.
Querol said the low election-related incidents make the barangay and SK elections far more peaceful than the national and local elections in May which posted 22 ERVIs across the region.
“That’s why we intensified our checkpoint operations to control the flow of illegal guns that could be used to sow violence during elections,” he said.
Despite the end of the COMELEC gun ban, Querol said the police will continue to go after loose firearms in Western Visayas.*