Comelec: Gun ban starts on October 1

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) moved the beginning of the gun ban for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections from September 23 to October 1, 2017 on Tuesday.

Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez tweeted that the gun ban will commence on the beginning of the election period for the barangay and SK elections on October 1.

Hello. Re #BSKE2017 - Election period - the election period will now commence on 1 October 2017, and will run until 30 October 2017.

— James Jimenez (@jabjimenez) September 19, 2017

The gun ban will run from October 1 to 30 but the period for the filing of applications for exemptions will still commence on September 21.

The filing of Certificates of Candidacy for the elections will run from October 5 to October 11.

A gun owner without an exemption from the Committee on the Ban on Firearms and Security Personnel (CBFSP) may be jailed for one to six years, deprived of his or her right to vote, and be prevented from holding public office if he or she is found to have violated the gun ban.

Licensed and unlicensed gun owners without authorization from CBFSP are prohibited from "carrying or transporting firearms or deadly weapons outside the residence or place of business."

"Employing or engaging security personnel or bodyguards" and "transporting and delivering firearms and/or parts, ammunition and/or components" are also prohibited unless authorized by COMELEC through CBFSP.

President Rodrigo Duterte pushed for the postponement of the barangay elections because he said 40 percent of all barangay chiefs were linked to illegal drugs.

The House of Representatives on September 7 approved on second reading House Bill 6308, a bill calling for the postponement of the synchronized barangay and SK elections from from October 23, 2017 to the second Monday of May 2018.

A bill proposing the postponement of elections to October 2018, filed by Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, has yet to be approved by the Senate. —Rie Takumi/NB, GMA News