A total of 2,345 individuals were arrested while 13,895 firearms were surrendered as of April 5 with the election campaign period heating up, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said.
In a press briefing with the President on Tuesday night, April 5, Año noted that authorities also confiscated 10,168 ammunition in compliance with the implementation of the Commission on Election (Comelec) Resolution No. 10728 in the same period.
“Patuloy po ang pagpapatupad ng mga batas upang mapangalagaan ang kaligtasan ng ating mga kababayan kasama na rin po ang kaligtasan nila laban sa Covid-19 pandemic (We are continuing the enforcement of this law to ensure public safety including their safety against Covid-19,’’ Año said.
The DILG chief also reported that a total of 39,042 police officers are currently deployed in the 5,104 checkpoints nationwide to maintain law and order as the campaign period in the May 2022 poll heats up.
He stressed that the deployment of the police officers manning the checkpoints is in compliance with the directive issued by the Commission on Election (Comelec).
“Nakikita po dito sa ating mga datos na buo ang dedikasyon ng ating kapulisan na pagtibayin ang kaayusan at kaligtasan ng ating mga kababayan habang papalapit ang araw ng eleksiyon (Based on our data, we can see the dedication of the police force to strengthen the order and safety of the public as the election approaches),’’ Año said.
In another update, Año disclosed that five cities/municipalities have imposed granular lockdowns composed of 14 barangays in the previous week.
He said there are only 16 areas placed under granular lockdown in the whole country with 11 places located in the National Capital Region (NCR).
This number of granular lockdown areas was up from the previous 11 just to make sure that the government can immediately address Covid-19 case woes to prevent another surge.
“At 16 na household ang naapektuhan at mayroon ding 19 na indibidwal (by the granular lockdown), (And 16 households and 19 individuals are affected by the granular lockdowns),’’ he added.
In the same briefing, Año reported that law enforcement authorities arrested 1,091 illegal drug personalities in the 744 operations conducted from March 27 to April 2.
He noted that there was one fatality in the anti-illegal drug operation with 81 individuals opting to surrender to authorities.
“Sa kabuuan po ang ating nasamsam na mga illegal drugs ay umaabot po sa P28,769,991 (Overall, the worth of seized drugs reached P28,769,991),’’ he noted. (Chito A. Chavez)
.