malaysiangA total of 162 loose firearms and three explosives were seized in Central Visayas as authorities gear up for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections on Oct. 30, the top regional police official said Tuesday. Brig. Gen. Anthony Aberin, director of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-7, said the firearms and explosives were seized during the four-day regionwide simultaneous anti-criminality law enforcement operations from Oct. 21 to 24. Aberin said confiscation of the firearms from 27 arrested individuals is a testament of the police’s aggressive implementation of the election gun ban. ‘The election gun ban campaign has been in full swing since Aug. 28. I have issued a stern warning to those who are planning to disrupt the upcoming elections,’ he told reporters. Aberin said most of the firearms were seized during Commission on Elections (Comelec) checkpoints, serving of search warrants, buy-bust operations, Oplan Katok and police patrols. Since Aug. 28, different police units and stations in the region conducted 14,919 Comelec checkpoints and held 683 firearms that were deposited and surrendered. Meanwhile, the police seized illegal drugs worth PHP2.7 million and arrested 28 drug personalities during their anti-drug operations, alongside the aggressive anti-criminality drive in relation to the upcoming elections. ‘There will be no letup in our operations against all forms of criminality in order to ensure a safe and secured electoral exercise come Oct. 30 BSKE,’ Aberin added.
Source: Philippines News Agency
