Total gun ban up to GMA — Lomibao

The implementation of a total gun ban is a presidential prerogative.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Arturo Lomibao said only President Arroyo has the discretion to implement a total gun ban nationwide in the wake of the recent assassination of former Pasig City congressman Henry Lanot. "I would be happy to have it (the total gun ban)," Lomibao said.

"But there are many factors to be considered," the PNP chief told a forum hosted by the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) late Wednesday.

Lomibao said the decision to implement certain policies rests with the President and Congress. He said the PNP could only follow the decisions made by the President and lawmakers.

"So we have to implement present policies, that is amnesty on holders of firearms with expired licenses," Lomibao said.

Mrs. Arroyo has ordered the PNP to compile a "special order of battle" for groups and individuals suspected to be holding loose or unlicensed firearms.

Lomibao has tasked the PNP Directorate for Intelligence (DI) to prepare an updated watch list of suspected loose firearm holders and the corresponding course of action. Lomibao also directed Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) chief Senior Superintendent Arturo Cacdac to make an inventory of the number of licensed firearms, including those up for renewal.

Lomibao said firearms with unrenewed licenses "should be considered loose and therefore must be confiscated."

Cacdac reported to Lomibao that as of Feb. 20, 2005, there were a total of 415,320 firearms whose licenses were not renewed by their owners.

Lomibao immediately ordered Cacdac to track down the firearms holders who had not renewed their licenses.

Cacdac reported that a total of 188,954 firearms had been declared loose in Metro Manila.

The second highest number of guns with expired licenses came from the Southern Tagalog Region with 58,187 followed by Central Luzon with 34,335.

"I was informed by Colonel Cacdac that the FED ran out of plastic cards for IDs for firearm permits. It means firearm holders with expired licenses are now trying to comply with the requirements," Lomibao said.

In the first quarter of 2004, the PNP’s Directorate for Intelligence monitored about 149,501 loose firearms nationwide.

The same report revealed the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) had the most number of unlicensed guns.

The DI also reported that about 7,000 loose firearms were in Metro Manila.

The Southern Tagalog Region came in second highest to ARMM with 24,542 loose firearms.

The DI said there were 21,000 loose firearms in Central Visayas while 12,500 had been located in Western Mindanao. Northern Mindanao registered 6,000 loose guns, the Ilocos region had 5,368 while Central Mindanao had 4,500.

In other regions of the country, the number of loose firearms averaged from 1,000 to 3,000.

In 2003, the PNP monitored 130,000 loose firearms as compared to the 872,921 guns properly licensed and documented.

The PNP has licensed a total of 913,658 firearms across the country.

Despite an earlier amnesty granted by Mrs. Arroyo, the number of loose firearms actually increased in 2004.

"There are approximately 149,500 loose firearms in the hands of unauthorized persons. Most likely, a large fraction of these are in the arsenal of gun-for-hire syndicates, organized crime groups, private armed groups, the local dissident movement, the separatist movement and domestic terrorist groups," Lomibao said.