Post by joel on Jul 10, 2009 8:09:51 GMT 8
Gun amnesty in October
By AARON B. RECUENCO
July 9, 2009, 7:37pm
President Arroyo has designated the entire month of October this year as the period of the final gun amnesty of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the last opportunity for gun owners to register their firearms before a nationwide crackdown on unlicensed guns begins.
The PNP leadership has originally recommended a period of four months for the gun amnesty but Chief Superintendent Ireno Bacolod, director of the PNP Civil Security Group, said the President has shortened it to only one month under Executive Order 817. No reason has been cited.
EO 817, Bacolod said, is entitled “Providing for the Government’s Intensified Campaign Against Loose Firearms” and specifically cited that the gun amnesty will start on October 1 and will end on the 31st of the same month.
Following the receipt of the copy of the EO, Bacolod said they have already released on Thursday the guidelines that will govern what the PNP leadership described as the “last and final” gun amnesty.
Quoting what is stated in the gun amnesty guideline, Bacolod said the program will actually be divided into two parts: One is for the owners of loose firearms and the other one is holders of unrenewed guns.
Owners of loose firearms will have to go the nearest police station which has jurisdiction over their residence, which in turn, will provide them with an application form.
“They will only pay P1,000 for each loose firearm at the nearest Land Bank of the Philippines branch,” said Bacolod.
“After the payment, unlicensed gun holders will submit their accomplished application form to the provincial police headquarters where they will be given their temporary gun license,” he added.
The loose firearms will then be subjected to ballistic examination at the Firearms and Explosives Division at Camp Crame in Manila.
For holders of firearms with expired licenses, Bacolod said they will have to secure an application form also at the nearest local police station and pay a fixed amount of P650.
“After which they will be given a temporary license pending the issuance of permanent, laminated gun license,” he said.
The gun amnesty program is just one of the strategies of the PNP to account for some 1.1 million loose firearms
in the country. Other measures include seeking for a stiffer penalty for possession of unlicensed guns and massive crackdown on criminal syndicates, particularly gunrunners.
Of the more than a million loose firearms, 50 percent of them are unregistered, 40 percent are firearms that were not renewed while the remaining 10 percent are in the hands of threat groups such as the communist rebels, Abu Sayyaf and Moro rebels and even criminal syndicates.
The records added that majority of the unlicensed guns are the ones being used in illegal activities, including in election-related violent incidents.
The PNP leadership is seeking to account of at least 33,000 loose and unrenewed firearms every month.
By AARON B. RECUENCO
July 9, 2009, 7:37pm
President Arroyo has designated the entire month of October this year as the period of the final gun amnesty of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the last opportunity for gun owners to register their firearms before a nationwide crackdown on unlicensed guns begins.
The PNP leadership has originally recommended a period of four months for the gun amnesty but Chief Superintendent Ireno Bacolod, director of the PNP Civil Security Group, said the President has shortened it to only one month under Executive Order 817. No reason has been cited.
EO 817, Bacolod said, is entitled “Providing for the Government’s Intensified Campaign Against Loose Firearms” and specifically cited that the gun amnesty will start on October 1 and will end on the 31st of the same month.
Following the receipt of the copy of the EO, Bacolod said they have already released on Thursday the guidelines that will govern what the PNP leadership described as the “last and final” gun amnesty.
Quoting what is stated in the gun amnesty guideline, Bacolod said the program will actually be divided into two parts: One is for the owners of loose firearms and the other one is holders of unrenewed guns.
Owners of loose firearms will have to go the nearest police station which has jurisdiction over their residence, which in turn, will provide them with an application form.
“They will only pay P1,000 for each loose firearm at the nearest Land Bank of the Philippines branch,” said Bacolod.
“After the payment, unlicensed gun holders will submit their accomplished application form to the provincial police headquarters where they will be given their temporary gun license,” he added.
The loose firearms will then be subjected to ballistic examination at the Firearms and Explosives Division at Camp Crame in Manila.
For holders of firearms with expired licenses, Bacolod said they will have to secure an application form also at the nearest local police station and pay a fixed amount of P650.
“After which they will be given a temporary license pending the issuance of permanent, laminated gun license,” he said.
The gun amnesty program is just one of the strategies of the PNP to account for some 1.1 million loose firearms
in the country. Other measures include seeking for a stiffer penalty for possession of unlicensed guns and massive crackdown on criminal syndicates, particularly gunrunners.
Of the more than a million loose firearms, 50 percent of them are unregistered, 40 percent are firearms that were not renewed while the remaining 10 percent are in the hands of threat groups such as the communist rebels, Abu Sayyaf and Moro rebels and even criminal syndicates.
The records added that majority of the unlicensed guns are the ones being used in illegal activities, including in election-related violent incidents.
The PNP leadership is seeking to account of at least 33,000 loose and unrenewed firearms every month.