Renew gun licenses, barangay, SK execs told

MANILA, Philippines — Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials running in the elections this October who own firearms with expired licenses should renew their permits as soon as possible, an official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday.

Brig. Gen. Paul Kenneth Lucas, PNP Firearms and Explosives director, stressed that barangay officials are not exempted from rules and regulations governing firearms.

“Once na makita na hindi naka-renew itong mga firearms nila, kakasuhan sila,” Lucas told reporters yesterday.

Aside from imprisonment, Lucas said the guns of these local officials would be confiscated.

He said barangay officials have so far been compliant with renewal of gun permits as provided under Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition.

The police Civil Security Group (CSG)’s one-stop shop at Camp Crame is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends starting today for renewal of gun permits and to receive applications for firearm registration.

As  of June 2, up to 539,000 or 25.66 percent of the 2.1 million registered firearms in the database have expired licenses, CSG director Brig. Gen. Benjamin Silo Jr. said.

He said Metro Manila has the highest number of expired gun licenses at 211,000 followed by Calabarzon, 108,000, and Central Luzon, 63,000.

Among the common reasons by gun owners are they are abroad or that CSG offices are far from their place.