Frasco forms gunsmith coop in Danao City

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu Fifth District Representative Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco has organized the “pistoladors” or the gunsmiths of Danao City into a cooperative.

Frasco said this will give them legal personality and the opportunity for self-determination, ushering in government assistance and recognition to improve their skills, and eventually legalize their livelihood.

“We have taken the first step towards this end by organizing the pistoladors into a formal cooperative,” said Frasco.

The “pistoladors” or gunsmiths of Danao have been making guns since the Philippine-American war in the early 20th century, according to famed historian Michael Cullinane.

Frasco said that deeply embedded in the fabric of our history, pistoladors have played a pivotal role in the Filipino revolution for independence, supplying guns to Filipino rebels and guerillas even up to the Japanese war.

“In the absence of legislation to regulate the gunmaking industry, however, the years have not been kind to the generations of gunsmiths in Danao,” he said.

He added that with neither protection nor regulation, they are constrained to work underground in constant fear of crackdown and political intimidation especially when elections come around.

In turn, criminals take advantage of the absence of government regulation by purchasing guns illegally from Danao, said Frasco.

“To resolve this, we must find a way to move forward: regulate the gunmaking industry through legislation, bring gunsmiths into the fold of government as partners in peace and security and economic gain for our country, and in turn, reduce crime rates by making supply and the purchase of guns transparent and out in the open,” he further said.

Frasco recalled when he was campaigning in the mountains of Danao, he met many of these pistoladors.

“Despite the notoriety attributed to this industry, I realized in speaking to them and hearing their stories that they are fathers and sons and brothers really just trying to eke out a living for their families. I could feel from their calloused hands the years of honing their skills, and I could see from their cautious eyes the years of living in fear,” Frasco recounted.

Last Saturday, Frasco administered the oath for the pistoladors cooperative called Danao Gunmaker Cooperative saying that the optimism was palpable, and the hope for a better life, one step closer to reality. — JMD (FREEMAN)