Candidates for vice mayor and councilor not entitled to gov’t-provided security

Armed Forces chief of staff Rodrigo Maclang on Monday said candidates for vice mayor and councilor will not have the privilege of being given security details from the police, the military, and the National Bureau of Investigation.

Instead, these candidates seeking lower local positions can only "enlist the services of private detective agents."
 
Speaking to reporters after a briefing with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc, Maclang said the private agents that the lower-level politicians will hire will in turn be trained by the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces, and will be given special permits to carry firearms during the campaign period.
 
Only candidates for mayor, higher local positions, and for national posts are allowed to request for both "private and uniformed security personnel."
 
All requests for security should pass through the Comelec’s committee on the ban of firearms and security personnel, which is headed by Commissioner Lucinito Tagle. National candidates shall file their application with the committee at the main office of Comelec in Intramuros, Manila, while local candidates shall file their application with the Regional Joint Security Control Desks (R-JSCD) in their respective regions.
 
There’s a P5,000 filing fee for each application.
 
Gun purchases to go on

Applications will then be referred to the AFP and PNP, which will conduct a threat or security assessment. Granting the request for security personnel will be based on these assessments.
 
Based on Comelec Resolution No. 8714, issued on December 16, not more than 2 members of either the PNP, AFP, or NBI will be assigned as security personnel to each candidate. Upon approval of request, additional 2 protective agents will be assigned as close-in security.
 
Also after briefing the poll commissioners, PNP Deputy Director Gen. Jefferson Soriano said the Comelec “strongly favors” the continuous firearms transactions during the election gun ban, but only among "legitimate importers and exporters."
 
Tagle clarified that the firearms that will be acquired in these transactions "will not be given directly to purchasers…. [Firearms] will be deposited to the PNP depository and will be released only on June 9."
 
The nationwide gun ban ends on June 9, a month after the elections. During this time, according to Comelec Resolution 8714, "only regular members of the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and other law enforcement agencies of the Government who are duly deputized in writing by the Commission for election duty may be authorized to carry and possess firearms during the election period." (Newsbreak)