A Comelec checkpoint (File by MARIANNE BERMUDEZ / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will begin accepting applications for gun ban exemption on June 5, almost four months before the Oct. 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
The date will give officials time to address the complaints, according to Commissioner Aimee Ferolino, chair of the Committee on the Ban on Firearms and Security Concerns, who gave a press briefing on Monday.
“For the first time, we will be opening the acceptance of applications earlier. In the past election, we started in December, but we found it right, we found it proper to open earlier to address the framework and the complaints of some applicants,” Ferolino said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.
“So now we will start earlier by two months in receiving applications, and in fact, we already have our resolutions that will govern the gun ban and the establishment of checkpoints later,” she added.
Ferolino also said that Comelec had already begun conducting an assessment of the peace and order situations in various areas through deputized agents of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
“We need to start early because if we start doing this during the election period we will be a little behind in the security preparations that we need to do. We will be addressing security threats both on a national and local level,” she said.
Checkpoints will also be set up during the gun ban.