ILOILO City – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) reminded the public that although the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) were over, the gun ban is still in effect.
Jonathan Sayno, Election Assistant II of the Iloilo City Comelec, said that anyone caught in checkpoints by the PNP carrying firearms and deadly weapons, among others, until Nov. 29 would commit an election offense with a penalty of disqualification to hold any public office or imprisonment.
“Yes, until Nov. 29 pa ang aton gun ban,” Sayno told Panay News.
Under the Comelec rules, during the election period, no person shall bear, carry, or transport firearms or other deadly weapons in public places, including any building, street, park, private vehicle, or public conveyance, even if licensed to possess or carry the same, unless authorized in writing by the Comelec.
Gun ban violation is considered an election offense that carries a penalty of one to six years imprisonment without the possibility of probation and results in one’s loss of the right to vote and perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) director Colonel Ronaldo Palomo has reminded the same.
“Any person nga magdala sang armas nga wala sang otoridad halin sa Comelec to bring firearms outside their residence is an offense against the Comelec gun ban,” Palomo said in an interview with Aksyon Radyo Iloilo.
Comelec Resolution 10918 stated that “No person shall employ, avail himself/herself of, or engage the services of security personnel or bodyguards, whether or not such security personnel or bodyguards are regular members or officers of the PNP, AFP, other law enforcement agencies of the government, or from a private security service provider, unless authorized by the Commission, through the Committee on the Ban on Firearms and Security Concerns (CBFSC) or the Regional Joint Security Control Center (RJSCC) in case of a Temporary Authority-Security Detail.”
Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) data showed that out of 22,886 checkpoints conducted in the region since Aug. 28, or the beginning of the election period and gun ban, 118 persons were arrested.
Further, there were 408 firearms surrendered, 179 firearms deposited, and 87 firearms confiscated.
In Comelec Resolution 10918 released May 20, the poll body said applications for the issuance of a Certificate of Authority to Carry Firearms must be electronically filed before the CBFSC from June 5 until Nov. 15.
The filing may be done through the Comelec website at www.comelec.gov.ph.
The CBFSC refers to the Committee in the Commission, which shall be responsible for the implementation of the ban on the bearing, carrying, or transporting of firearms and other deadly weapons, the employment, availment, or engagement of security personnel, among others, and the rules and regulations on the application for exemption.
The President, Vice President, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (SC), the Senate President, all incumbent senators, the House of Representatives Speaker, all members of the House, and all justices of the SC, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, and Court of Tax Appeals are exempt from the ban.
Also included in the exemption list are all judges of the regional, municipal, and metropolitan trial courts; the ombudsman, deputy ombudsman, and investigators and prosecutors of the ombudsman; the prosecutor general, chief state prosecutor, state prosecutors, and prosecutors of the Department of Justice; and officials and agents of the National Bureau of Investigation.
Likewise given automatic exemption are Cabinet secretaries, undersecretaries, and assistant secretaries; all election officers; provincial election supervisors; and regional election directors./PN
