Comelec: Over 2,500 gun ban violators nabbed as of April 19

MANILA, Philippines —  The Philippine National Police (PNP) has so far arrested over 2,500 individuals, including 18 of its personnel, who reportedly violated the election gun ban, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Based on the National Election Monitoring Action Center’s (NEMAC) latest data, authorities apprehended 2,529 gun ban violators from January 12 to April 19 this year.

Of this figure, 18 are PNP personnel, 14 are members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, 12 are foreign nationals, and 2,418 are civilians.

Comelec said the arrests stemmed from 2,486 gun ban violations.

Confiscated from the violators were 2,603 firearms. Of this figure, 2,350 were small arms, 55 were light weapons, 27 were airsoft, 101 were replicas, 60 were explosives, and 9,451 were ammunition, among others.

The NEMAC’s data also showed that PNP validated 28 election-related incidents (ERIs).

Of the 28 ERIs, 20 were violent, while eight were non-violent.

The PNP earlier explained that a case is considered a suspected ERI if it happened during the election period, from January 12 to June 11, and if the suspect or victim is either a candidate, a close relative of the candidate, a supporter, or a Comelec official.

The PNP imposed a nationwide gun ban last January 12.

The police force said that its imposition of a gun ban is aimed at ensuring peace and order, as the government believes it could lessen gun-related violence during the upcoming midterm polls.