474 gun ban violators arrested; 2,800 cops with kin seeking barangay posts re-assigned
A total of 474 people, including soldiers and policemen, were arrested in the implementation of the nationwide gun ban for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE).
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the same gun ban implementation since Aug. 28 also resulted in the confiscation of 286 firearms, 273 of them ate small firearms.
Fajardo said almost all of those apprehended were civilians with 441 while nine security guards were also collared.
On the other hand, two soldiers and two policemen were also apprehended along with one elected government official.
The PNP leadership earlier warned that it will be aggressive in the legal offensive against gun ban violators as part of the measures to ensure the peaceful and orderly conduct of the barangay elections on Oct. 30.
In fact, Fajardo said the PNP leadership has started re-assigning more or less 2,800 of its personnel whose relatives are seeking positions for the barangay and SK elections.
“Our rule is that our personnel must declare if they have relatives up to the 4th degree of consanguinity or affinity who are running for any position so that they would be re-assigned to other areas,” said Fajardo.
The move, he said, is aimed at ensuring that the PNP would be isolated from partisan politics.
PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda, Jr. earlier ordered all police commanders to intensify security measures in their respective areas in preparation for the barangay elections which is always classified as the most challenging elections in the country.
So far, Fajardo said they already received 11 election-related incidents, two of them were confirmed to be election-related while the nine others are still for validation.
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