Election gun ban today includes cops, military

WOULD it be happy days for criminals and robbers who would have the golden opportunity to do their thing while the election gun ban starts today, January 14? The answer however may still be dependent on how effective the Commission on Election checkpoints are manned by the police and military.

Today, as the gun ban is implemented across the country in preparations for local and national elections in May, even the regular members of the police and the military could not just bring with them their fire-arms outside their barracks if they do not get the COMELEC issued special permits, says Bohol Election Supervisor Veronico Petalcorin at the weekly Kapihan sa PIA. In their barracks or police stations, they can have their fire-arms, but not outside, presses Petalcorin who is also a lawyer. As the police and military voluntarily part with the prime crime deterrent in their side-arms, what could prevent the criminals from hitting the innocent, asks a city based businessman who has aired concern over the unabated spate of criminalities that often pop months before election periods.

Over that, Comelec Bohol said they have deputized the police and the military to set up checkpoints to ensure the implementation of the law. According to Petalcorin, routine inspections and flagging down of suspicious vehicles to check for concealed weapons would be a regular police function. For police officers and the regular members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines bearing fire-arms without the COMELEC special permit, they could be tried for violation of an election offense. For civilians and criminals, when accosted, they could be tried for illegal possession of fire-arms and violation of the election laws, the law says. And the hard thing is that election law offenses are tried as special law violations and those guilty would be denied of probation, a sure formula for disqualification from the rights to vote, the lawyer COMELEC supervisor added. Penalties could include imprisonment of not less than a year for violators, and the violation being against a special law, perpetrators are not entitled of the usual probation accompanying usual illegal possession cases.

In election hotspot areas predetermined by the Comelec based on the evident facts, military or police may be sent by the Comelec however to secure areas. More-over, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has said they would thwart any efforts by the communist New People's Army (NPA) to collect “permit to campaign” fees from politicians during the May elections. Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon said the military had received reports that the NPA are already planning to collect access fees in their respective areas of control from candidates.

“We hope to be able to control the collection of permit-to-campaign fees. We will discuss this with the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies as I think it's an illegal activity,” Esperon said. The NPA collects the fees from politicians who want to campaign in areas where they hold sway. In Bohol , the government forces belonging to the 302nd Brigade have confiscated documents detailing politicians who paid in cash or kind to the NPAs as access fees. No cases have so far been filed against the perpetrators. Even then, Esperon urged candidates not to pay campaign fees to the NPA. “We should not be paying fees to an armed group that is bent on extorting [money] from the people, from the candidates. (I am) calling on probable candidates not to pay permits to campaign fees to the NPA,” said Esperon. According to Esperon, the military and police can be called to ensure the orderly conduct of the elections in areas where the “presence of a strong armed threat” is seen.

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