‘… we may hope that the Ampatuan and Infanta attacks will not be repeated in other places in the country until the end of the election season.’
EVEN with the implementation of the gun ban by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) this election period, there are still incidents of ambushes and shootouts especially in the hinterlands of Mindanao, leading many to question the effectiveness of the firearms policy.
Last week (April 7), there was another ambush in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines where the lawyer-chairperson of the Bangsamoro Business Council luckily survived the attack unscathed since he was riding in a bullet-proof vehicle.
Lawyer Ronald Torres, a defender of the rights of Muslims and other indigenous people in Mindanao, survived Thursday’s attack by gunmen only because he was riding in a bullet-proof Toyota Land Cruiser when attacked with assault rifles. Unfortunately, a driver and political campaigner of mayoral candidate Nukman Sangki, was killed in that gun attack in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao.
This incident is just one of many such violent occurrences this election period, among them the ambush and attempted murder of Infanta, Quezon Mayor Filipina Grace America, who also survived the attack. In both instances, it seems the Philippine National Police has been encountering problems related to police investigation, even as the usual idea of the attacks being “politically motivated” has been loosely aired.
The presence of so many firearms in the hands of political groups has been a problem for the Comelec and law enforcement agencies for so long that the public has become accustomed to hearing shooting incidents at this time.
We note that the Comelec en banc headed by Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan has not been remiss in tightening the gun ban policy, such as recalibrating the guidelines for gun ban exemptions ahead of the elections in May.
Pangarungan said in an en banc meeting amendments to Resolution No. 10728 with the aim of producing “a more efficient system of issuing certificates of authority” include the “decentralization of the granting of exemption to the Regional Directors and Election Officers and the grant of automatic exemption to justices, judges, and prosecutors, including the Ombudsman.”
The Comelec chairman wanted to ensure that the regional directors and election officers possess the required capacity to undertake the task of gun ban implementation.
With the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies strengthening their partnership with the Comelec, we may hope that the Ampatuan and Infanta attacks will not be repeated in other places in the country until the end of the election season.
