MANILA, Philippines - Another group is questioning the new firearms licensing system of the Philippine National Police (PNP) that was halted by the Supreme Court (SC) in April.
The Association of Firearms and Ammunition Dealers (AFAD) slammed the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office (FEO) for the glitches in its licensing scheme that prompted them to cancel their gun show this year.
AFAD president Jethro Dionisio said they decided to postpone the 22nd Defense and Sporting Arms Show slated next month due to unresolved issues surrounding the IRR (implementing rules and regulations) of Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.
“We cancelled the show because of the confusions in the licensing office. It is not ready. The problem is in the implementation not with the IRR ,” Dionisio told The STAR yesterday.
He said the computer system at the PNP-FEO, which is supposed to be the database of new and existing licensed firearms owners, is not functioning. The FEO has no capability to register new firearms, he said.
According to Dionisio, the new licensing system should have been in place as early as December last year.
It was learned that FEO has hired the services of Joseph Mendoza as a code provider/IT consultant.
The contract between the PNP and Progressive Ideas, of which Mendoza is said to be a shareholder, reportedly cost P30 million.
Mendoza was a classmate of PNP chief Director General Alan Purisima as both belong to the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1981.
Progressive Ideas is the code provider commissioned by the FEO to upgrade the firearms and license database of the PNP.
In its website www.progressive ideas.com, the company offers solutions for computer, network, IT training and business communication requirements.
The company has been operational since 1996 and prides itself as “successfully building, deploying and implementing IT solutions such as network design and setup and business consulting.
“We hear the gun owners cry for help as the system is slowly killing the (local gun) industry. Do we win as dealers? No. This is a lose-lose situation for us, for the gun users, for the workers that have been laid off, for the families that have lost their income,” Dionisio said.
The SC has issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping the PNP’s implementation of the new firearms licensing system.
The TRO covered outsourcing of firearms license delivery by courier service and the warrantless searches of homes in the guise of firearms inspection.
The high court issued the order upon the petitions of Peaceful Respondent Owners of Guns Inc. and Gun Owners in Action, which both questioned the new gun law.