ILOILO City – This year from January to November, various police units under the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) arrested 5,370 wanted persons and seized 3,915 firearms across Western Visayas.
Of the arrested fugitives, 811 were classified as “most wanted” and 4,559 had bailable cases.
PRO-6 spokesperson, Police Lieutenant Colonel Arnel Solis said the number of arrested persons these past 11 months was 37.16 percent higher than last year’s in the same period.
In 2020, 3,915 persons were arrested; of these, 376 were considered as “most wanted”.
“Our police personnel are more aggressive this year in our campaign against wanted persons,” Solis said.
In the campaign against loose firearms, the PRO-6 netted 2,714.
Of these guns, 2,387 guns were surrendered and/or deposited due to expired licenses; 327 others were confiscated in police operations.
In 2020, 2,820 loose guns were gathered; of these, 505 were confiscated and 2,315 were deposited and surrendered for having expired licenses.
Solis said a higher number of firearms were gathered this year because gun holders were now more aware their responsibilities.
“We are calling the public who still have firearms with expired licenses to surrender to the nearest police station to avoid to be arrested,” Solis said./PN
