Police Colonel Ireneo Dalogdog, chief of CIDG-7, said that they continue to intensify operations against any form of violence for the 2022 election post.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Seven individuals, who violated the nationwide election gun ban, were arrested in eight days of operation in the last part of March this year.
Police Colonel Ireneo Dalogdog, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7), said that aside from that, they also confiscated 10 firearms from these individuals.
Dalogdog said the operations were conducted from March 21 to 28.
Dalogdog also said that aside from the 10 confiscated guns, 1 firearm was surrendered to the CIDG-7 during their Oplan Katok operation.
“The CIDG remarked that the seizure of these weapons would prevent the occurrence of violent gun-related crimes during the election,” the CIDG-7 said in a statement.
Dalogdog said that the 7 gun ban violators were just among the 42 individuals arrested during the eight-day operations in the region.
The nationwide gun ban, which began on Jan. 9, will last until June 8, 2022 under the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution 10728.
During that period, all permits to carry firearms outside of residence have been suspended. The exception to this ban are regular members of the PNP, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other law enforcement agencies, who should be in uniform while carrying their weapons.
Violators may face a year of jail time up to six years.
He also said that of the 42 individuals arrested, they already filed criminal complaints to 20 of these individuals, 17 of whom were believed to be members of criminal gangs here.
As previously reported, law enforcement agencies had intensified their monitoring and operations against criminal gangs, who might be used for election-related violence.
READ: Cebu City cops to monitor activities of criminal gangs as 2022 polls draw near
Aside from those gun ban violators, Dalogdog said that they also arrested 23 wanted persons during these eight-day operations.
These included the arrest of 1 most wanted person at the regional level, 10 fugitives at the city level and 3 most wanted persons in the municipal level.
“The violations of the arrested most wanted persons included murder, rape, selling of illegal drugs, illegal recruitment, and child abuse,” said Dalogdog.
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