MANILA – A ranking official of the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced there will be no exemptions in the implementation of the total gun ban imposed on private individuals authorized to carry weapons to minimize poll-related violence in May.
Lucenito Tagle, the chief of the Comelec Committee on the Ban on Firearms and Security Personnel, pointed out that coverage of the ban is so extensive that it also includes airguns, airsoft guns and other replicas of firearms.
“Carrying of weapons that look like guns is not allowed,†Tagle stressed. He reminded the people, particularly the private licensed gun holders that the ban starts on January 10 and ends on June 9.
He also clarified that the sale of firearms would still be allowed but on condition that the gun would not be given directly to the buyer.
However, Tagle stressed that the ban does not cover uniformed soldiers and policemen who are on “official mission†as authorized by the Comelec.
At the same time, Tagle said he would meet with representatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Thursday to finalize security plans for the national and local elections on May 10.
Earlier, Director General Jesus Verzosa, the PNP chief, announced he already ordered the suspension of all permits issued to private gunholders which enable them to carry firearms outside of their residences.
Verzosa also said that during the meeting on Thursday, he will also inform the Comelec about the areas of immediate concern or the so-called “election hotspots.â€
These include, he said, the provinces of Abra in the Northern Luzon highlands, Nueva Ecija in Central Luzon, Masbate in the Bicol Region, Western Samar in the Visayas as well as Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan and Sulu in Mindanao.
According to Verzosa, places are considered election hotspots when there is a presence of threat from armed groups or “private armies;†history of intense political rivalry; and recorded cases of election-related violence in previous polls.
Another major consideration in the making of a poll hotspot, Verzosa said, is the proliferation of loose firearms
He cited as an example the case of Nueva Ecija where intense political rivalry has traditionally characterized elections in the province. Compounding the problem he said, is the presence of close to 7,000 unlicensed firearms.
As proof, Verzosa said that on the PNP watch list are 13 of the 32 towns in the province because the occurrence of politically-motivated violence is highly possible every election time.
Another example, Verzosa added, is Maguindanao, a component province of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) where 57 people were massacred on November 23 in what is considered as the country’s worst-ever political violence.
He pointed out that 76 percent of Maguindanao is classified as an election hotspot due mainly to threats posed by private armies maintained by rival clans and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which has resumed peace talks with the government in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.
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