Northern Mindanao starts gun ban

Tuesday 12th of January 2010

Cagayan de Oro City (12 January) -- Bearing, carrying or transporting firearms or other deadly weapons during the election period, Jan. 10 to June 9, 2010, is authorized only for the regular members or officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP) or the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and other law enforcement agencies of the government.

Thus clarified Atty. Renato A. Magbutay, Regional Elections Director of region 10, who said the authorization also covers the members of privately-owned or operated security, investigative, protective or intelligence agencies duly authorized by the PNP who must leave and deposit their issued firearms in their respective posts when off duty.

However, the officers and members of the PNP and AFP must be in the regular plantilla and are receiving regular compensation for services rendered in said agencies, in the agency-prescribed uniform showing clearly and legibly their name, rank and serial number or in case such are inapplicable, their agency-issued identification (ID) card showing their name and position, which should remain visible at all times.

They must also be duly licensed to possess the firearm and carry the same outside of residence by means of a valid mission or letter order and in the actual performance of election / official duty or going to or returning from his residence / barracks or official station.

Magbutay said deadly weapons include bladed instruments, hand grenades or other explosives, except pyrotechnic while firearms refer to air guns, air soft guns and their replica / imitation in whatever form that can cause an ordinary person to believe that they are real.

Covered by this provision are the personnel and members of the following other law enforcement agencies, namely: Presidential Security Guards (PSG), National Bureau of Prisons (NBP), Provincial and City Jails, Intelligence Service Operations Group (ISOG), Office of the Sergeant-At-Arms (OSSA) of the Senate or the House of Representatives, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and Department of Tourism (DOT).

Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), Cebu Port Authority (CPA) and Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Police Forces, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), Videogram Regulatory Board (VRB), Philippine Postal Corporation, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) and Bureau of Immigration.

Land Transportation Office (LTO), National Police Commission (Napolcom) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGU), Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG), Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Foreign Diplomatic Corps.

Bureau of Treasury to include the Treasurer and Deputy Treasurer of the Philippines and the Comelec to include the Election Officers, Provincial Election Supervisors, Regional Attorneys, Regional Election Directors (RED), Asst. RED, Directors III and IV, Commissioners and Lawyers in the Comelec Main office. (PIA 100