A simpleton approach

 I know that there are many gun lovers in Cebu and the Visayas so just in case you haven’t heard, the Philippine National Police has recently announced that they are planning to confiscate guns from gun owners whose gun licenses are expired for more than a year and then charge them with illegal possession!

 I don’t know if Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. the PNP spokesman has run out of good news, but it seems for lack of anything better to talk about, he recently made the announcement that the National Secretariat for Firearm Control (NSFC) is giving gun holders six months to renew their licenses after their expiration and a timeframe of another 6 months to apply warrants against them for non-compliance.

 Let us not take this announcement against Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. because he is simply the messenger. But in the same breath I hope that the officials of the PNP don’t take it personally if we call their announcement a “simpletons’ solution.”

 When PNP Chief Nicanor Bartolome took over as head of the PNP, I assumed that he would, as a reflection of his character and performance, bring logic, professionalism and order into the PNP. But after reading the announcement regarding expired gun licenses, the first impression I had was that the PNP is back to its bullying and terrorizing tactics.

 While reading the article written by Cecile Suerte Felipe for the Philippine Star, I immediately saw the difference of how the PNP viewed the problem as against a civilian who actually studied the situation. While the PNP merely issued its threat, the writer/reporter took the time to study the situation and pointed out the following:

 “At least 500,000 firearms are registered at the Firearms and Explosive Office, but a number of them are not re-registered because of high renewal costs, while others were lost by their owners. The PNP, with the approval of the national government, has had several firearms amnesty campaign to entice firearms holders to register their loose firearms and raise revenue for the government.

 But reports said these campaigns did not fare well because of the strict documentary requirements, ballistics examinations, and costly circuitous gun documentation”.

 Many years back when the FEO and PNP officials before Bartolome decided to increase the prices and complicate the documentation and processing of gun licenses, gun owners and related organizations spoke out and told the PNP that it was not a good idea because the price increases were excessive. Still the PNP went ahead.

 Last year, several organizations had already suggested to the PNoy Administration that they should declare another gun amnesty and simplify the process so owners can revive their licenses and let the government collect fees. But the answer from Malacañang and the PNP was a flat no.

 So now it is evident that the PNP has come to realize that they have created a problem far worse than poor collections, they now have thousands of firearms whose records have not been updated. That is what usually happens when you use the “law” instead of logic. Ironically, the PNP wants to be bull headed about the matter. Instead of accepting economic realities and mistakes in the process and policy, they now threaten license owner with confiscation and arrest.

 The PNP chose to focus on collections without considering consequence. They set a goal without due diligence and consideration for the economic crisis and reality being experienced by gun license holders and the country as a whole. This situation reminds me of the saying “penny wise, dollar foolish.”

 By insisting on increasing the license and processing fees, the PNP hoped to double if not triple their collections. But what happened is that people who don’t really bring their guns outside and only use them for personal security, were forced to pass off the renewal because there will always be bigger priorities in life.

 Perhaps it would serve the FEO leadership well to think of their customers welfare first before their collections. Before threatening taxpayers, the FEO and the PNP leadership might want to ask themselves: is there no better way to solve the problem?

 Considering the institutional embarrassment that the PNP has suffered from the Chopper Scam, and another one unearthed by no less than DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo, the officials of the PNP would do better by improving on their customer relations. Remember, the idea is to collect money from gun owners not to extort money, which is how it feels when law enforcers are threatening you.

There is always a better way of doing things, using force or threat is not one of them.