Gun amnesty fails to draw in 44,150 guns in W. Visayas Philippine Daily Inquirer
November 08, 2009
ILOILO CITY, Philippines -- The Philippine National Police in Western Visayas has decided to intensify efforts to recover or account for an estimated 44,150 loose firearms in the region.
The Philippine National Police Regional Office 6 has admitted that the three-month campaign for gun amnesty, offered by the government to encourage people to register their loose firearms, only accounted for 7,850 firearms. Police say 44,150 loose firearms remain in circulation, without the proper documentation.
"They could have been taken out of the region but we will heighten our campaign," Chief Supt. Isagani Cuevas, Western Visayas police director, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview on Sunday.
Cuevas said the bulk of loose firearms or around 29,000 have expired licenses that could be renewed with the PNP's Firearms, Explosives, Security Agencies and Guards Supervision Section (FESAGSS).
A month-long firearm amnesty program to register firearms with expired license ended in October and was extended for another month to accommodate more applicants.
Gun owners can register their firearms for a P1,000 fee for every unlicensed firearm and P650 for every firearm with an expired license.
Cuevas said they have sent around 29,000 letters to owners of firearms that were previously registered but have expired licenses. Regional police have also confiscated around 500 unlicensed firearms in raids.
Cuevas has directed police stations to apprehend or submit for registration at least one loose firearm every week.
Police units would continue to conduct raids and checkpoints to recover the firearms after the amnesty period has lapsed, Cuevas said.
The gun amnesty program has been one of the efforts of the government to ensure an orderly and peaceful election in 2010, he said.
There are an estimated 1.1 million loose firearms in the country. The World Health Organization has ranked the Philippines 10th among countries with a high-rate of gun-related killings, a regional office statement said.
