Comelec: Gun ban starts January 13

MANILA, Philippines—Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said Monday a total gun ban will be implemented in mid-January next year, the start of the election period.

In a press conference at the Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, Brillantes said the poll body has designated Commissioner Elias Yusoph as the chairman of the committee on the gun ban.

The gun ban will kick off January 13.

He said gun-carrying privileges throughout the country will be temporarily suspended.

The poll body, however, will announce probably Tuesday who can get gun ban exemption.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas earlier said authorities are looking into over half a million illegal firearms—either unlicensed or whose legal documents have expired—which can possibly be used in committing politically motivated crimes.

Roxas also listed 15 provinces considered “high-risk” areas for election violence.

Brillantes said the number looks “reliable” considering that police officers, together with the military, are the ones maintaining peace and order in these areas of concern, as well as the rest of the country.