DEFENSE CHIEF PLACES AFP UNDER
COMELEC CONTROL
[PHOTO
AT LEFT -
Members of the PNP-Special Action Force stand at attention during a
send-off ceremony at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig yesterday.
Jonjon Vicencio, DAVAO CITY, Philippines]
DAVAO CITY, JANUARY 9, 2010 (STAR) Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales placed the Armed Forces yesterday under the control of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Speaking before the 38th General Assembly of the Bishops-Ulama Conference (BUC) at the Waterfront Insular Hotel, Gonzales said the military under the poll body’s guidance can prevent a failure of elections.
“We would like to see the Comelec succeed,” he said. “We will not allow a failure of elections.”
Gonzales said the Comelec will not allow No-El (No Elections), No-Proc (No Proclamation) and failure of elections to occur.
He said he is disturbed by the grim election scenarios being painted by anti-government groups.
The Comelec can use the military and police to ensure the elections are held on May 10, Gonzales said.
Key military commanders in Mindanao and the Armed Forces Joint Staff led by Armed Forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado were present at the general assembly.
The BUC is comprised of 24 Mindanao Catholic bishops, 18 Protestant bishops and pastors, and 24 Muslim ulamas.
Gun ban in Metro
In Metro Manila, at least 56 checkpoints would be set up in strategic points on Sunday to strictly implement the gun ban.
Metro Manila police commander Director Roberto Rosales said the checkpoints aim to ascertain that those carrying firearms possess the proper documents.
“Nobody would be exempted,” he said. “Even policemen, military personnel and government workers like (agents of) the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) caught carrying undocumented firearms while not in uniform would be arrested and charged in court.”
Rosales said the checkpoints would be manned by police, military and Comelec personnel.
Politicians are allowed only two police bodyguards and two others from private security agencies, he added.
Rosales, accompanied by Armed Forces National Capital Region Command chief Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu and Comelec election officer Mike Dioneda, would conduct early morning inspection of checkpoints on Jan. 10, the start of the election period.
According to Rosales, at least 12 checkpoints each will be set up in Manila and Quezon City, and two each in the remaining 15 cities and one municipality in Metro Manila.
A Comelec representative would be deployed in each checkpoint, he added.
Rosales said police are validating reports of private armies in Metro Manila.
Once confirmed, he would direct police at checkpoints to be on the lookout for them, he added.
Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, Philippine National Police spokesman, said the checkpoints will be manned by police officers in uniform and will be under the command of an official with at least the rank of an inspector.
Espina said policemen manning the checkpoints will thoroughly search public buses, jeepneys and taxicabs, but private motorists will be treated under the plain view doctrine.
“Private motorists and their passengers will not be forced to alight unless there is probable cause to believe that their vehicle has been involved in a crime,” he said.
Espina said under the Comelec gun ban, all permits to carry firearms outside of residence are suspended from Jan. 10 to June 9.
Only uniformed law enforcers and soldiers on official duty and those going to their places of assignments from their homes are allowed to carry guns, he added.
PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said checkpoints are required by the Comelec and the Joint Security Control Center.
“Checkpoints must be done in a manner that will impose minimum inconvenience upon the persons to be searched such that the rights of the persons are not violated,” he said.
Verzosa said a search of vehicles must be authorized by a search warrant from a competent court.
However, qualified warrantless visual search can be done under the plain view doctrine, he added.
Seamen dissuaded from carrying guns
Labor Undersecretary Romeo Lagman has dissuaded Filipino seafarers boarding foreign vessels, particularly those cruising the Somalia coast, from carrying guns.
“We are cautioning our workers against carrying firearms,” he said. “We are pushing for no firearms on foreign vessels.”
Eduardo Santos, Association of Marine Officers Union of the Philippines (AMOSUP) official, said carrying firearms is not a solution to the continuing threat of piracy, but “would only exacerbate the situation.”
Santos said manning agencies, Filipino seafarers and the Department of Labor and Employment have rejected arming Filipino seamen on board foreign vessels.
“In fact, we are also advising our seafarers against using flashes while taking pictures on board vessels because the pirates might construe it as flash from firearms,” he said. – Jaime Laude, Non Alquitran, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mayen Jaymalin