ABOUT 8,000 firearms owned by elected government officials, from the national down to the barangay level, have expired licenses, the chief of the PNP Civil Security Group (CSG) said yesterday.
CSG Director Brig. Gen. Benjamin Silo Jr. urged the officials, mostly barangay execs, to renew the licenses of their firearms to avoid possible police operations against them.
Silo said there are around 30,000 firearms listed as being owned by elected officials.
“Out of these 30,000 firearms, around 8,000 or roughly 27 percent have expired licenses,” said Silo.
“They (owners of 30,000 firearms) are elected officials from the national down to barangay.
Our safe estimate is 50 percent of them are barangay officials,” said Silo.
He said owners of guns with expired licenses are given three notices to renew their licenses.
“If they fail to comply despite the notices, we are going to initiate revocation proceedings and after their licenses are revoked, appropriate police operations will follow,” said Silo.
“The PNP can go to court to apply for the issuance of search warrants and if approved, we can implement the same,” he added.
Last month, PNP Director for Operations Brig. Gen. Leo Francisco said around 18,900 firearms owned by policemen and soldiers also had expired licenses.
Silo said the PNP has coordinated with the superiors of these policemen and soldiers to tell their men to renew the licenses of their personal firearms.
“We provided already the list of the delinquent gun holders and we would like to assure you that the mood of their direct superiors is good,” said Silo.
“They are encouraging the military and PNP personnel, to include other members of law enforcement agencies, to follow the provisions of the law,” added Silo.
