MANILA - The Police Regional Office 4-B (PRO-Mimaropa) on Friday announced the arrest of 96 persons wanted for various offenses during massive law enforcement operations last Aug. 30. In a report, PRO 4-B deputy director for operations Col. Gil Francis Tria said the Palawan Police Provincial Office (PPO) topped the list of arrested suspects with 42, followed by the Oriental Mindoro PPO with 26; Marinduque PPO, 10; Occidental Mindoro, nine; Romblon PPO, six; and Puerto Princesa City Police Office, three. "Out of the 96 arrested, 10 are included in the Top Ten Most Wanted Persons (TTMWP), seven of which were arrested in Palawan and three in Oriental Mindoro," Tria added. The majority of the arrested accused have pending warrants of arrest (WOA) for charges such as rape, violation of Republic Act 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act), violation of RA 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004), Presidential Decree 1602 on illegal gambling, Presidential Decree 449 or the Cockfighting Law of 1974, murder, frustrated murder, theft, robbery, among others. The arrested suspects are all under police custody and will be turned over to the issuing court as soon as possible. The data from the Regional Investigation and Detection Management Division disclosed that PRO 4-B had recorded 1,821 apprehensions of wanted persons since January this year -- an 11.81 percent increase from the 1,606 arrests in the same period last year. (PNA) }