Saturday, September 22, 2007 Gun ban for SK, brgy polls on Sept. 29-Nov. 13 By Grace L. Plata
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec)-Southern Mindanao announced Thursday that the gun ban period for the SK and barangay elections will start September 29 and end of November 13 of this year.
With the elections set on October 29, Comelec-Southern Mindanao counsel Gay Asuncion Enumerables said the commission and the police will be strictly implementing the ban as they did during the midterm elections last May.
The gun ban covers carrying or transporting of firearms or other deadly weapons in public places, including any building, street, park, private vehicle or public conveyance, even if the carrier is licensed to possess the same. That is, unless the person has written authorization from Comelec to carry the firearm, pursuant to Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code as amended by Section 32, Republic Act 7166.
Any application for gun ban exemption is to be forwarded to the Comelec Central Office in Manila for approval.
Enumerables, however, said Comelec-Southern Mindanao has not received reports of election-related violence. Police have also not identified any area within the region as election hotspot.
