TAGBILA RAN CITY, Bohol – The Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) 7 has approved a resolution declaring an all-out war against all forms of numbers games in the region during its meeting at the Bohol Tropics last Tuesday.

The motion was made after Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto raised concerns on why there was no mention regarding drive against illegal gambling, including jai-alai, masiao, swertres, last two, among others, prompting RPOC 7 Chair and Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to call for a motion to declare an all-out war against these illegal gambling games.

The floor immediately passed a mass motion to this effect, giving the RPOC its third all-out-war policy declaration. Earlier, the RPOC 7 has declared an all-out-campaign against communist insurgents and illegal drugs.

Meanwhile, more police operations like road checkpoints will be conducted in a bid to confiscate at least 49,000 loose firearms still unrecovered in Central Visayas.

The council said that while total crime volume in the region has dipped by at least 18 percent, the number of loose firearms went up. In Cebu City, there were 313 cases involving loose firearms from January to June, the highest recorded for Central Visayas.

The firearms were used in robbery and murder cases. Cebu province ranks second with 176 cases, and Bohol province third with 146 cases.

For the duration of the gun ban during the last election period, the police seized 11,080 loose firearms.