The hunt for 11 remaining suspected members of an alleged private armed group (PAG) in Negros Oriental continues, an official of the provincial police said yesterday.

At a Kapihan forum, Captain Antonio de Leon, chief of the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office’s Provincial Election Monitoring Action Center, said 18 of the 29 suspected members of the same private armed group have already been neutralized.

“We are continuing our monitoring and manhunt for the 11 remaining alleged members,” De Leon said without disclosing their whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Brigadier General Joey Escanillas, commander of the 302nd Brigade of the Philippine Army based in Negros Oriental’s Tanjay City, said in the same forum that they have intensified their checkpoints and border controls as the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections draw near.

Escanillas specifically mentioned the borders of Negros Oriental’s Basay town and Negros Occidental’s Hinobaan town, as well as Negros Oriental’s Mabinay town and Negros Occidental’s Kabankalan City.

He said the checkpoints would make sure that no illegal firearms and dubious personalities would slip unnoticed between both provinces.

Intensified joint police and military operations have so far arrested 11 people for violating the Commission on Elections gun ban, which also led to the confiscation of seven firearms and seven bladed weapons. (PNA)