MANILA, Philippines - Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. has 19 high-powered firearms registered with the Philippine National Police but the PNP–Firearms and Explosives Division (FED) will now confiscate the guns after he was tagged as the mastermind in the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao.
PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said the PNP revoked all firearms licenses of the Datu Unsay town mayor who is facing multiple murder charges in connection with the Maguindanao massacre last Nov. 23.
Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. is a son of Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr.
Verzosa ordered the Civil Security Group to revoke all license to possess firearms issued to the younger Ampatuan, now detained at the NBI Central Office in Manila.
FED records show that Ampatuan Jr. has license to possess four cal. 45 pistols, two 9mm pistols, three cal. 40 pistols, two cal. 380 pistols, a cal. 357 and a 5.7mm handgun, four shotguns and two high-powered rifles.
Chief Superintendent Ireno Bacolod, Director of the Civil Security Group, has written Ampatuan Jr. informing him of the revocation of his license to possess firearms because he is a principal suspect in a criminal case.
“His possession of these firearms is already illegal as his privilege to own those firearms has been revoked pursuant to existing regulations,” said Bacolod.
Bacolod added that the CSG is giving Ampatuan Jr. reasonable time to surrender all firearms covered by the revoked licenses.
Under existing SOPs, the CSG chief said these firearms are now subject to forfeiture in favor of the government.
“Failure on his part to surrender these illegally possessed firearms is enough grounds for the court to issue a search warrant that will authorize police to search his residence and confiscate the weapons,” Bacolod said.
As the approving authority for the issuance of all firearm licenses and permits, Verzosa said similar license revocation and firearms forfeiture proceedings will be applied to other persons who will be charged for the massacre.
Under the proposed amendments to the gun control law, illegal possession of three or more unregistered firearms is a non-bailable offense punishable with life imprisonment.
Earlier, AFP and PNP authorities completed the accounting and documentation of 429 high-powered rifles issued to four deactivated CAFGU and CVO companies in Maguindanao.
Verzosa has suspended all gun-carrying privileges by virtue of Permit to Carry Firerms Outside of Residence (PTCFOR) issued to civilians in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City.
Disarmament is the foundation for re-establishing rule of law in Maguindanao, Verzosa said referring to ongoing firearms control measures being implemented nationwide under the National Firearms Control Program.
Verzosa added that disarmament and effective firearms control takes away the climate of fear and possibility of violence in areas with ongoing armed conflict.
Meantime, the international think tank Small Arms Survey’s (2007) figures placed the average total number of guns in circulation in the Philippines at 3.9 million (high of 5 million and low of 2.8 million).
The police statistics cited in the proposed Gun Control Act of 2009 also revealed that the data gap in the actual number of guns in circulation contributes to the difficulty of accurately pointing the finger to the problem and in making a systematic assessment of trends in arms proliferation.
Still pending at the Senate, the proposed law aims to amend certain provisions of Presidential Decree 1866 and impose higher penalties for gun-related violations.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV filed the proposed Gun Control Act of 2009 last August.
The call for lawmakers to act on the proposed law came as the PNP amnesty program for loose firearms ends today.
In his explanatory note to Senate Bill 3375, Trillanes also cited the statistics provided by Verzosa in the National Summit on Firearms Control last May that showed that the Philippines ranked 10th in the number of gun homicide rates worldwide.
The PNP chief referred to the 2005 Report of the World Health Organization and the LJN Office of Drugs and Crime.
Furthermore, the PNP revealed that the current estimate of loose firearms in the country is now figured at 1,110,372.
The PNP report showed that in the 5,752 crime incidents recorded in 2008, there were 6,030 firearms involved therein – 5,999 of which were loose firearms and only 31 licensed.
In addition, the most common crimes committed with loose firearms from 2006 to 2008 consistently included murder, homicide, physical injury and robbery.
“Admittedly, firearms in the hands of irresponsible citizens is tantamount to increased perception of insecurity, loss of human lives, damage to property and destruction of valuable resources in the country,” Trillanes said.
The senator, detained at Camp Crame on rebellion charges, lamented that the bill remains pending before the Senate.
The House of Representatives has early on approved on third reading House Bill 6776, seeking stiffer penalties for illegal possession of firearms.
The measure also seeks to make illegal possession of three or more firearms a non-bailable offense punishable by life imprisonment. – With Christina Mendez