The three-month gun ban and police checkpoints for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls will start today (Monday), the Commission on Elections said.
“The Comelec is ready for the start of the election period and gun ban for the BSKE,” Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said on Sunday.
The Comelec will also ban carrying cash of P500,000 or more from Oct. 25 until election day on Oct. 30, Laudiangco said.
“If an individual cannot explain the purpose for the cash they are carrying, we will assume that they are engaging in vote buying,” he added.
Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia, for his part, said the poll body is bracing for a “hotly contested BSKE.
“The barangay and SK polls are more personal because candidates and voters are blood relatives, neighbors, and even acquaintances. Therefore, we expect the polls to get more heated as we get closer to proclaiming winners,” he said.
Those running for barangay and SK posts are expected to file their certificates of candidacy (COC) starting today until Sep. 2.
Once a person files his or her COC, he or she will already be considered a candidate and will be prohibited from campaigning except during the prescribed period from Oct. 19 to 28.
Voters in all 42,000 barangays across the country will have to vote for the following positions on Oct. 30: one barangay chairman, seven Sangguniang Barangay members (kagawad), one SK chairperson and seven SK members.