Tacloban city: The Philippine National Police (PNP) will conduct a comprehensive review of firearms regulations after investigators discovered a possible serial number duplication involving one of the guns used in the recent school shooting in Tacloban City. The move aims to prevent criminal groups and unscrupulous individuals from exploiting loopholes in firearm registration and permitting systems.
According to Philippines News Agency, the instruction is to look deeper into this and find out other possible loopholes of the existing firearms regulations that are possibly being taken advantage of by erring groups and individuals, PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a statement Thursday. This comes after investigators found that a .38-caliber revolver used in the June 22 shooting at San Jose National High School may have been tampered with through a serial number duplication scheme.
Nartatez said authorities are tracing those potentially involved, including a security agency and individuals whose names appeared in firearm registration records. "We will look into the totality of this to come up with the best measures in the interest of responsible gun ownership and safety of the public," he said.
Police earlier disclosed that the serial number of one of the firearms used in the attack, which killed three students and injured several others, matched that of another gun registered in Bohol. The PNP is investigating how two separate firearms could carry identical markings and whether irregularities occurred in registration, manufacturing, documentation, or record-keeping processes.
"This investigation is necessary to determine whether changes or adjustments are needed in the process of assigning serial numbers to firearms," Nartatez said. He said the review is intended to ensure the accuracy and reliability of firearm records and strengthen efforts to prevent guns from being used in criminal activities.
Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, for his part, called for a more comprehensive law that would hold negligent firearm owners criminally liable when their registered weapons are used in crimes. Remulla said current laws do not explicitly impose criminal liability on firearm owners whose guns are used by others to commit crimes.
"People have to be responsible gun owners or gun operators. People have to take accountability," he said. He said the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, currently serves as the basis for charges against firearm owners.
"There is an infirmity in the law. Walang concomitant responsibility ang gun owner kung gagamitin ng iba ang baril nila para pumatay ng tao, where, I believe, ikaw ang sole responsible person basta nakalisensya sa'yo yung baril (The gun owner has no concomitant responsibility if his gun is used by others to kill someone, where, I believe, you are the sole responsible person as long as the gun is licensed to you)," Remulla said. Remulla stressed that responsible gun ownership requires firearms to be securely stored and kept away from unauthorized persons.
He urged Congress to strengthen firearm laws and impose greater accountability on licensed gun owners. Remulla also called on advocates of responsible gun ownership to support reforms that would impose stricter penalties and help prevent similar incidents in schools and other public spaces.
