1,933 loose firearms recovered in 2005

A total of 1,933 "loose" firearms were recovered from civilians and suspected criminals last year as part of the government’s campaign against criminality, the Philippine National Police said yesterday.

Chief Superintendent Arturo Cacdac Jr., PNP-Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) director, said the number is higher than the 903 seized in 2004.

"The government’s intensified campaign against loose firearms paid off as evidenced by the number of guns recovered," he said.

President Arroyo ordered an intensified campaign against loose firearms following numerous crimes committed early last year, among them the ambush-slaying of former Pasig representative Henry Lanot.

Mrs. Arroyo also granted amnesty to holders of unlicensed firearms, allowing them to register their weapons without any documents.

Cacdac said 7,088 firearms were registered as part of the amnesty, from March to September last year.

The amnesty also helped the PNP raise some P290 million in license fees, he added.

Cacdac said based on records of the Directorate for Intelligence (DI), the owners of 187,000 loose firearms refused to register them in 1990 during the term of President Corazon Aquino.

"Since then, the figure 187,000 was always added to the number of loose firearms by the DI," he said. "We have no way of checking whether the owners register their gun or not in the absence of documents and records."

The number of gun owners who availed of the amnesty could still go up as other applications remain pending in the regions and have yet to be forwarded to his office, he added.

The DI reported 132,730 loose firearms nationwide as of the first quarter of last year.

Of this number, 35,597 were recorded in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, followed by Calabarzon with 24,542.

In Metro Manila, at least 7,000 unlicensed firearms have been reported.

In Western Visayas, there were 21,000 loose firearms and 10,000 in Western Mindanao.

There were 6,000 loose firearms in Northern Mindanao and 5,288 in the Ilocos Region. — Cecille Suerte Felipe