The Philippine National Police (PNP) said it has seized some PHP1.63-billion worth of illegal substances from 12,858 police operations starting January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2022.

In its First Quarter (Q1) 2022 assessment report released by the PNP Directorate for Operations on Tuesday night, the PNP said some 15,946 suspects were arrested while 31 died in police operations.

During the same period, some 288 members of organized crime groups were also rounded-up. A total of 1,476 firearms were also confiscated from crime groups, private armed groups, and communist/local terrorist groups.

The PNP also arrested 2,542 individuals in the campaign against loose firearms who were charged in 1,113 cases filed in court.

"Seventeen most wanted persons with reward for their arrest were (also) captured, while 7,037 other most wanted persons were also arrested. Rounding up the data, police authorities accounted for 19,658 persons in the wanted list," PNP Chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos said in a statement.

Since the start of the year, the PNP also said some 1,235 members of the communist and local terrorist groups surrendered to authorities with renewed hope as productive members in the mainstream of society.

“We elevate our vigilance since more areas may display election-related threats. Our purpose is to prevent violence from happening despite the heated competition among candidates,” Carlos added.

The PNP said some 16,820 uniformed personnel who will be deployed for election duties are undergoing career courses and field training programs.

A total of 1,160 members of the PNP national headquarters Reactionary Standby Support Force have likewise begun a four-week training on April 7, and will culminate on April 29, gearing up for security preparations for the May polls. (PNA)

(Photo credits to: PNA)