With the gun ban, licenses and permits to carry firearms outside residences are automatically suspended until a month after the conduct of the elections. This has not stopped however crimes involving the use of guns.
Chief Supt. Rudy Lacadin, director of Police Regional Office 3, said the firearms, mostly hand guns, were seized either at checkpoints or through search warrants in residences.
Nueva Ecija yielded the highest number of confiscated firearms with 41, both high and low calibers, said Lacadin.
Bulacan is second with 31; followed by Pampanga with 20; Bataan, 18; Tarlac, 14; and Angeles City, 10.
He added that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit 3 accounted for 41 of the confiscated guns.
Aside from the firearms, also seized in various operations were 10 hand grenades, 56 gun parts, 56 bladed weapons, and six replica guns.
“The confiscated items were brought for storage in police stations to serve as evidence against the suspects,” Lacadin said.
The “successful” implementation of the gun ban in Central Luzon is expected to “contribute greatly to peaceful, orderly and honest elections,” according to Lacadin.
This, even as he cited the “character of the candidates” for “belonging to well-educated and respected families” as factors for peaceful elections.
He cautioned though that “What we’re watching closely are the conduct and behavior of their supporters, to prevent untoward incidents from happening during the election period.”
Lacadin said the campaign against loose firearms will remain in force through “Oplan Katok”, where holders of firearms who failed to re-register and apply for licensing of their guns are encouraged to surrender their weapons to the PNP for safekeeping.
