Over a thousand people have been arrested for violating the gun ban imposed for the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on October 30, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Sunday.
PNP spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said 1,063 gun ban violators were arrested as of Thursday, September 28.
Of those arrested, 1,017 were civilians, while others were members of law enforcement, security guards, and elected government officials.
Authorities so far confiscated 650 firearms.
The PNP also said Sunday it was monitoring 38 potential private armed groups (PAG) and one active PAG.
Interviewed on Super Radyo dzBB, Fajardo said the number of potential armed groups being monitored by security forces as of September 29 had decreased from over 40 to 38.
“Based on the assessment of our security forces, some have become dormant. Some are no longer monitored being on the move as their leaders and members have been caught,” the spokesperson said.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also said communist rebels absorbed “crushing defeats” at the hands of government troops with sustained focused military operations of the Visayas Command (VISCOM) as the village elections nears.
For the month of September alone, 12 government-initiated armed encounters transpired in the entire region against the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA).
These led to the neutralization of 54 NPA terrorists, 19 of whom died during encounters, as 32 returned to the fold of the law while three were apprehended, the AFP said in a statement.
Government troops also seized 38 assorted firearms and nine anti-personnel mines during the period.
Lt. Gen. Benedict Arevalo, VISCOM Commander, emphasized that the troops’ “collective efforts with the local government units in clearing the barangays from NPA infestation have gained ground.”
The PNP earlier announced it was considering including 246 barangays as election areas of concern under the red category, which will be placed under the control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Most of these barangays are in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, and Bicol Region.
Fajardo said violators of the firearms ban were not the only ones caught at Comelec checkpoints. Also caught were suspects who were the subjects of police operations.
The election period and the prohibition on the bearing, carrying, or transporting of firearms and other deadly weapons and the employment or engagement of the services of security personnel or bodyguards was set from August 28 to November 29.
Fajardo said the PNP had also initially monitored three active PAGs in Central Luzon, but two groups had surrendered to authorities.
A total of 1,248 barangays are in the orange category, while 1,100 are in the yellow category