Philippine police has arrested 20 people who allegedly violated the nationwide gun ban to secure 2007 election activities since January in the central region of Eastern Visayas, a local report said.

The arrest of the gun ban violators shows that law enforcers in the region are serious to check the proliferation of loose and unlicensed firearms, the Inquirer news network quoted the police's regional director Eliseo de la Paz as saying.

"We don't take into consideration the position of the person arrested," De la Paz said, referring to an Army sergeant arrested by the police.

The Army soldier was caught with a .45-caliber pistol at a checkpoint in Calbayog City on January 14, when he failed to prove he is exempted from the gun ban, De la Paz said.

He said the soldier and the 19 other civilian gun ban violators have been charged with illegal possession of firearms in violation of Commission on Elections Resolution 7764.

The police has identified Eastern Visayas as an area of security concern in the upcoming May elections for Congress and local governments. Since the election season began, several politically motivated killings have occurred in the region's provinces, according to the police.

Source: Xinhua