Brigadier General Debold Sinas, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas chief, presents the confiscated and surrendered firearms since the election gun ban at the PRO-7 office. | Zena V. Magto
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Over 1,972 loose firearms were surrendered and seized by the police force in Central Visayas since the implementation of the election gun ban on January 13, 2019.
As of May 1, 2019, over 1,496 firearms were surrendered to the police, pending renewal of its owners’ permit under Oplan Katok.
Meanwhile, 476 of these firearms were recovered from operations conducted by the police force.
These firearms were presented in a press conference in the headquarters of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas, with Brigadier General Debold Sinas, PRO-7 chief; Commission on Elections acting Director Lawyer Veronico Petalcorin, and Colonel Noel Baluyan, Task Group commander in Cebu.
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Pistols made most of the number of these firearms, which is at 1,122. Four machine guns were also confiscated by the police.
Over 46 suspects were also arrested in police checkpoints during the duration of the election gun ban.
These firearms are from the provinces of Cebu, Negros Oriental, Bohol and Siquijor.
The Cebu province had the highest number of turned over firearms, which is at 574.
In mainland Cebu, the Cebu City Police Office recorded the most number of confiscated firearms, which is at 358./dbs