- GILBERT BAYORAN
The Commission on Elections and its deputized law enforcement agencies will enforce the gun ban starting on Aug. 28 as the election period for the synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections starts.
“All licensed firearms registration and Permit To Carry Outside Residence are suspended unless an exception is secured from the Commission,” said Comelec regional director, Atty. Dennis Ausan.
Comelec Resolution No. 10918, promulgated May 17, 2023, prescribes the rules and regulations on the ban on the bearing, carrying, or transporting of firearms or deadly weapons and employment, availment, or engagement of the services of security personnel or bodyguards during the election period.
Aimed at ensuring a secure, accurate and free exercise of the people’s right to suffrage, in line with the Oct. 30 BSKE, the Regional Joint Security Control Council (RJSCC) 6 was activated Aug. 23 at Camp Martin Delgado in Iloilo City.
The RJSCC is composed of the Comelec, the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, Police Regional Office 6, and the Coast Guard District Western Visayas.
Ausan, who presided over the first coordinating conference of the RJSCC, said a JSCC will also convene at the provincial, city and municipal levels before the election period officially starts on Aug. 28.
The campaign period will be from Oct. 19 to 28.
While Aug. 28 is a holiday, Negros Occidental provincial Comelec supervisor, Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria, said that they will accept COCs from candidates on that day.
In a statement, the Police Regional Office 6 vows to exert all efforts and resources to ensure a peaceful and credible BSKE in Western Visayas.
“We will strictly implement all the guidelines set by the Comelec and will intensify all our police operations and anti-criminality campaign to deter lawless elements from spreading threat, fear and chaos during the whole election period,” P/Brig. Gen. Sidney Villaflor, regional police director of Western Visayas, said./GB
