COTABATO CITY – Police here have begun enforcing a Commission on Elections resolution banning the transport and possession of firearms, explosives, and ammunition as part of efforts to ensure peace during the October 13 parliamentary election.
DE Guzman (right). (FB)
Police Col. Jibin Bongcayao, the city police director, said all entry and exit points in the city are being monitored by joint police, Army, and Marine personnel manning checkpoints. The election gun ban began regionwide on Thursday.
The election period for the first BARMM parliamentary elections will run from Aug. 14 to Oct. 28 in the provinces of Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi, the cities therein, and in BARMM’s eight new municipalities known as the Special Geographic Area (SGA) in North Cotabato.
“We are strictly implementing Comelec Resolution No. 11149, and it applies to all, including uniformed personnel of the AFP and PNP,” Bongcayao told reporters while leading police personnel in a checkpoint in Barangay Tamontaka. “Please bear with us, this is for the safety of everybody.”
Across BARMM, police checkpoints were also set up as part of the preparations for the upcoming polls, where voters will choose 80 members of the Bangsamoro Parliament.
Police Brig. Gen. Jaysen de Guzman, the BARMM police regional director, said the security sector will carry out weekly evaluations and assessments across the region to identify any threats that could impact the voting process.
“This is part of our preparation for a peaceful and orderly first BARMM parliamentary polls,” De Guzman said in a separate interview. (PNA)