BUTUAN CITY – Police have arrested 31 individuals in the Caraga region for violating the election gun ban that started on Jan. 12.
The Police Regional Office 13-Regional Operations Division Monitoring Action Center said 33 firearms were seized as of Friday, March 21.
PRO 13-Regional Public Information Office (RPIO) chief Police Major Jennifer S. Ometer said they have been enforcing strict security measures and round-the-clock checkpoints to prevent election-related violence.
Only visual inspections are allowed in checkpoints and police manning them are prohibited from opening a vehicle’s trunk or glove compartment as well as dismounting or frisking passengers, Ometer said.
Ometer said during the election, no person shall carry firearms or other deadly weapons in public places, including any building, street, park, private vehicle or public vehicle, even if licensed to own or carry them, unless authorized in writing by the Commission on Elections.
“We encourage the people of Caraga to cooperate and we also urge that if you have weapons that are expired or no longer registered, PRO-13 are ready to assist you, if you voluntarily surrender your firearm,” Ometer said.
Meanwhile, police recently arrested the second, third, and fourth most wanted persons in Surigao del Sur.
Surigao del Sur Police Provincial Office Director Police Col. Harry B. Domingo, in a report to PRO-13 Director Police Brig. Gen. Christopher N. Abrahano, identified the suspects as Ern, 62; Nap, 58, and Jann, 52.
“These arrested three most wanted persons in Surigao del Sur were duly informed of their constitutional rights under the Miranda warning and Anti-Torture Act during the arrests and now under the custody of Barobo Municipal Police Station (MPS) in that same province,” Ometer said.
Abrahano cited operating units for the arrest of the suspects. “We will continue to work relentlessly to ensure that those who pose a threat to public safety are brought to justice,” Domingo said.