BUTUAN CITY – The regional command of Northeastern Mindanao Police Regional Office 13 (PRO 13) reported on Wednesday that there were 23 election gun ban violators recorded all over Caraga region.
These gun ban violators were registered from January this year up to yesterday, six days before the national and local elections, said PRO 13 regional election monitoring and action center based at Camp Rafael C. Rodriguez here.
The arrests were made in the different provincial, city and municipalities in the provinces and six cities in Northeastern Mindanao or The Caraga region through the 74 fixed checkpoints established by PRO-13 and the Commission on Elections (Comelec), PRO 13 Regional Director P/Brig. Gen. Romeo M. Caramat Jr., said in a statement.
Records from the PRO 13 Regional Election Monitoring and Action Center (REMAC) also showed that from January 9 to May 3, six .45-caliber pistols and three .357-pistols were confiscated from illegal gun holders during checkpoint operations.
Two 9mm pistols, three .38 caliber pistols, one improvised shotgun, 10 bladed weapons, and 94 ammunition were also confiscated from the violators during law enforcement operations in the same period conducted by the different provincial, city and municipal police offices and mobile forces, said PRO 13 REMAC.
“The whole force of PRO-13 will intensify the implementation of the gun ban as the local and national elections near,”said Brig. Gen. Caramat.
He added that PRO-13 and its partner agencies in the security sector have standing safety measures to ensure a peaceful and crime-free election in the region.
Recently, close to 800 police men were mobilized and deployed as augmented forces in the different police forces already deployed in various areas in the region to ensure an objective, orderly and peaceful national and local election.
The field units of the Army’s 4th Infantry (Diamond) Division are also assisting the Philippine National Police in their different areas of jurisdictions in Northeastern and Northern Mindanao regions.