The Central Luzon regional police has intensified the campaign against loose firearms ahead of the 2025 midterm elections in a bid to deny private armed goons the instruments to sabotage poll results.
Police Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan, director of the Police Regional Office 3, said that from Oct. 1 to Oct. 9, his men already confiscated a total of 163 loose firearms in various parts of Central Luzon.
“We already started conducting a series of simultaneous operations across multiple provinces in Central Luzon as part of the intensified efforts to combat the proliferation of illegal firearms in the region,” said Maranan.
“This is a key priority to enhance security leading up to the 2025 elections,” he added.
National police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil earlier ordered all police commanders to intensify the election security measures across the country to ensure peaceful and orderly conduct of elections in May next year.
Maranan said the 163 firearms were seized during the conduct of a combination of law enforcement initiatives to include 16 search warrants.
“Our intensified operations against loose firearms and the successful execution of the COC filing demonstrate our commitment to ensuring a secure and peaceful electoral process,” said Maranan.
Meanwhile, Maranan said that the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) for local candidates in Central Luzon was generally peaceful with a total of 3,384 local bets submitting their intentions to run for local posts.