• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
As the election period ended yesterday, the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office reported that it accounted for a total of 41 gun ban violators, since its implementation on August 28 this year, in line with the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
Convicted gun ban violators may face a jail term of two years without probation, and are disqualified to hold public office, deprived of the right to suffrage, as provided by law, according to the Commission on Elections.
At the end of the election period, the gun ban and the ban on the implementation of government projects were lifted, Provincial Comelec supervisor Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria said.
Based on the latest Comelec data, Ananoria reported that only 23.48 percent of all BSKE candidates have submitted their Statement of Contribution and Expenditures (SOCE).
Those who failed to submit their SOCE will face a penalty from the COMELEC, he added.
The submission of the SOCE is a requirement prescribed by the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines to determine compliance with the expenditure limit of a candidate.
There will be no extension of deadlines for the filing of SOCE for candidates who participated in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on October 30.
Ananoria also said that the Comelec is now set to prepare for the 2025 midterm elections.
“We will also start voter registration,” he added.*
