Police to step-up gun ban drive as elections near
Police Regional Office (PRO) VI has vowed an intensified campaign on the implementation of the total gun ban, as the May 10 elections near.
PNP Regional Director Chief Supt. Isagani Cuevas said that the gun ban implementation is one way to help curb election violence and other forms of criminality.
Latest report showed that there were already 213 persons caught violating the election gun ban. These led to the confiscation of 179 firearms.
Of the said number, 183 civilians were among the violators of gun ban together with four members of the AFP, 11 government officials and 15 others.
The police also seized 47 bladed weapons and 6 grenades from the violators.
“We have already 136 cases filed in court and investigations are still on progress on 64 incidents,” he said.
Cuevas revealed that most of the arrests yielded in PNP-AFP-Comelec checkpoint/chokepoint operations.
Other violators were arrested by police responding to call for assistance, visibility patrols and saturation drives.
He also explained that gun ban is being enforced to prevent any form of election-related violent incidents this election period.
“We are supportive of the campaign for honest, orderly and peaceful elections. And we hope everyone will also be cooperative towards that end,” he said.
Meanwhile, the PRO-6 hierarchy already directed all line units to further heighten checkpoint and chokepoint operations and massive deployment of police personnel for election duties.
In the conduct of checkpoints, the police are directed to be keen about persons riding in tandem on a motorcycle.
Cuevas noted that a lot of criminals used motorcycles to commit a crime.
He also explained that the campaign against persons riding in tandem on a motorcycle is a nationwide campaign of the PNP under its Operation Plan Sita.
“It is to prevent people from being victimized from snatching, robbery and other similar incidents,” he explained.
Aside from preventing poll violence, Cuevas said that the conduct of Oplan Sita is in anticipation of the increase of commuters and people converging in areas, like polling places and malls, this coming May 10 elections.
When the volume of people in the street increases, there is also a greater probability that criminals operate,” he added.
“We have cases here of killing by criminals riding in tandem on a motorcycle, like the shooting of Mondia,”he said referring to the killing of Luis Mondia Jr, a former Mayor of Pulupandan, Negros Occidental, in front of Jaro Cathedral about 6:45 in the evening of February 17, 2010.
