Another gun ban violator arrested
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

KALIBO, Aklan - Another civilian was arrested by the Malay town police for violation of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) nationwide gun ban yesterday morning.

The latest arrest brought to six the total number of gun ban violators in the province, said Aklan police provincial director Senior Superintendent Epifanio Bragais, Jr.

PO3 Ben Estuya of Malay police station told Aklanforum that Arturo Sullano, 46, of Barangay Aquino, Ibajay, Aklan and presently residing at Centro Norte, Pandan, Antique possessed a caliber 45 pistol when he was apprehended by the local police in a Comelec checkpoint in Barangay Poblacion, Malay, Aklan at about 11 a.m.

"Malay police chief Senior Inspector Lory Tarrazona was informed by a civilian informant that a Ceres bus passenger from Buruanga, Aklan carries a handgun. Tarrazona acted with dispatch and ordered a Comelec checkpoint in Barangay Poblacion to determine the report," he said.

Estuya said the suspect, a security officer of the local government of Buruanga, failed to present his documents and why he was carrying a caliber 45 pistol.

As this developed, Bragais lauded the intensified efforts of the Aklan Police Provincial Office (APPO) and the chiefs of police against violators of the Comelec-imposed total gun ban.

Comelec Resolution No. 8714 was implemented on January 10, 2010 until June 9, 2010, which allows bonafide members of the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines and accredited security agencies to carry firearms during the actual performance of their duty and in proper uniform.

Among those six arrested individuals were a policeman and five civilians, mostly in the manned checkpoints of the police. In Western Visayas, 72 violators were apprehended and 48 cases filed in court for violation of election gun ban.