A TOTAL of 12 violators have been arrested in the different parts of Zamboanga Peninsula since the election gun ban took effect last Sunday, a police official disclosed Wednesday.
Superintendent Jose Bayani Gucela, spokesman of the Zamboanga Peninsula Police Office (ZPPO), said the arrests were made on checkpoints that were established in line with the implementation of the election gun ban.
Gucela said seven of the 12 people arrested are from Zamboanga del Sur, four in Zamboanga Sibugay and one in Zamboanga City. Among the firearms that were confiscated include M-14 rifles, caliber .45 pistols and homemade caliber .38 revolver.
Appropriate charges were readied for filing against the arrested gun ban violators, Gucela said.
The ZPPO covers the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Norte, including the component cities of Dapitan and Dipolog, and Zamboanga del Sur and its component city of Pagadian, and Zamboanga City.
The checkpoints were established by the different police offices in strategic places of the region, according to Gucela.
The implementation of the gun ban aimed to ensure the conduct of honest, orderly and peaceful elections in May this year. (Bong Garcia)