62,000 gun holders renew licenses – PNP

MANILA, Philippines - Over 62,000 gun holders with expired licenses have renewed the registration of their firearms in compliance with the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s “Oplan Katok” program, which aims to account for loose firearms nationwide.   

PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima ordered Chief Suâ„¢perintendent Raul Petrasanta, director of the Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO), to relax the policy on the renewal of firearms registration, and accommodate those with expired licenses.

Petrasanta said gun holders can renew the registration of their firearms whose licenses have expired for over two years.

He said this would boost the PNP’s effort to account for loose firearms, which might be used in sowing violence during the May elections.

Petrasanta said the PNP is accounting for 490,000 guns with expired licenses from a total of 552,380 loose firearms in the country.

He said 27,640 firearm registrations were expired from one day to six months, while about 65,865 guns have expired licenses from six months to two years. Some 358,883 licenses were not renewed for more than two years, Petrasanta said.

He said police officers implementing the “Oplan Katok” would conduct house-to-house check on gun holders with expired licenses.

The PNP official said police commanders were instructed to give update on their operations on a weekly basis to secure peaceful and orderly elections in May.

“Firearms with expired licenses can be deposited to the police station with jurisdiction on the address of the gun holder. He will be given 15 days to work on the renewal of the registration of his gun,” Petrasanta said.

He said the PNP would not recommend any gun amnesty.