The Supreme Court of the Philippines has clarified that not all weapons are banned everywhere during elections.

In a recent ruling, the Court said the election gun ban mainly applies to firearms and similar regulated weapons. Bladed items like knives are only prohibited if they are carried inside or within 100 meters of a voting precinct, and only during specific election activities.

In a Resolution written by Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, the SC’s Third Division cleared a man earlier convicted of violating the election weapon ban.

The man was arrested during the 2018 elections for carrying a kitchen knife outside his home without permission from the Commission on Elections. Both the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals found him guilty, and the SC initially agreed with these rulings.

However, after the man asked the Court to reconsider, the SC reversed its earlier decision and acquitted him.

The Court said prosecutors failed to prove an important part of the crime—that the man was carrying the knife inside or near a voting precinct during the period and hours covered by election rules.

The SC explained that the law treats firearms and knives differently during elections. Firearms are generally banned in public places during the election period. But knives and other bladed weapons are only prohibited in or near polling places, and only at certain times.

Since there was no proof that the man was near a voting precinct when he was arrested, the Court ruled that his guilt was not established.