Gun ban drive nets 33 daily

DAVAO CITY , Philippines  – Since the start of the gun ban on Jan. 10, authorities have arrested an average of 33 violators daily, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

According to Director Andres Caro II, Philippine National Police (PNP) operations chief, 166 gun ban violators were arrested from Jan. 10 to 14.

Of the 166 violators, 10 are policemen, 11 are military personnel while another seven claim to be government officials or employees. The remaining 138 are civilians.

Of the 153 firearms recovered, at least 67 were high-powered firearms, Caro said.

The Comelec issued Resolution 8714 imposing a nationwide total gun ban during the election period starting from Jan. 10, 2010 until June 9, 2010.

The PNP has deployed some 50,000 police officers in some 3,500 road checkpoints scattered all over the country.

Caro said the checkpoints also managed to prevent petty crimes, as policemen were able to confiscate 14 bladed weapons and four hand grenades.

PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa, on the other hand, said they are closely monitoring some 558 cities and municipalities earlier tagged as “areas of concern” in the coming May elections.

Of the 558 cities and municipalities under watch, 118 are located in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Verzosa pointed out.

Verzosa said the areas being watched have a history of political violence, with the presence of partisan armed groups and political rivalries.

“We have to infuse additional personnel and intelligence gathering in these areas,” Verzosa said.

He said the PNP would conduct more checkpoint operations in these areas.

Meanwhile, policemen here in Davao City arrested a businessman Thursday after he was found to have a cache of firearms in his residence here at Sto. Niño Village, Barangay Ma-a.

The Southern Mindanao regional police office said several weapons were seized from Joseph Carmona Capa during a raid conducted by policemen from the Talomo police station.

Among the weapons recovered from Capa were six .38 caliber revolvers, one 9mm automatic pistol, one .45 caliber pistol, and several ammunitions of different caliber.

Capa claimed he was into a gun repair business. He said the firearms seized from him are from soldiers and policemen who had them repaired at his shop.

Capa said he kept the guns in his house because he could not deliver them to his clients because of the prevailing gun ban. –With Mike Frialde