Election gun ban to start on April 14

THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will work together to enforce the gun ban and prohibition on the use of police bodyguards during the campaign period from the barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said

department will also monitor the use of prohibited drugs during the elections.

He directed the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to guard against the illegal release of prisoners before and after the village elections.

Comelec Resolution 20247 states that the DILG, together with the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and other law enforcement agencies, will assist the poll body in implementing the gun ban and prohibition of police bodyguards.

The DILG also prohibits the following the construction or maintenance of village-funded roads and bridges, appointment or hiring of new employees, creation of new positions, promotion, giving salary increases, remuneration and privileges from May 4 up to May to the night of May 14, election day.

Organizing or maintaining reac- tion forces, strike forces, or similar forces is also prohibited during the campaign period, as well as altering precincts or establishing new ones and employees in the civil service including public school teachers.

The suspension of elective provincial city, municipal or village officers during the election period is also banned, as well as waging or betting on the election results.

Also prohibited are fundraising activities through dance, lotteries, or cash or gifts up to election day.

Año warned that his department will be on the lookout for people who will buy or sell their votes.

“The barangay elections have been postponed twice. Our vote should have no price and it will have an impact on the progress of our villages,” he said.