Remulla Wants Stronger Law Versus Loose Firearms

The law that is being attributed to Sen. Robinhood Padilla is to blame for the surge in crimes involving loose firearms, according to Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla.

“The Robin Padilla Law, which extinguished culpability and made it a bailable offense, has led to a surge of crimes precisely because loose firearms is a bailable offense,” Remulla said at a news briefing at Camp Crame on Wednesday, Aug. 19.

Remulla was referring to Republic Act No. 8294, which amended provisions of Presidential Decree No. 1866, that codifies laws on unlawful possession, manufacture, dealing in, acquisition or disposition of firearms, ammunition or explosives.

It became known as the Robin Padilla Law because the actor-turned-politician was a beneficiary of its retroactive penal reductions.

After the deadly shooting at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Remulla stressed that possession of loose firearms should be a non-bailable offense.

“We went through the numbers, 98 percent of gun crimes are committed with loose firearms,” he said.

Remulla said there are about 2.78 million firearms in the country, more than two million of which are privately owned, while 780,000 are with law enforcement agencies and the military.

The suspect in the fatal Zamboanga shooting used the two firearms owned by his father, an official of the Bureau of Customs, who has been placed on suspension.

Remulla said gun owners whose firearms are obtained and used by other people in crimes due to their carelessness are only liable for reckless imprudence.

“The young shooter is treated as a juvenile. Isn’t the owner of the gun equally responsible?” he said.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has so far recorded 50 incidents in schools involving children in conflict with the law. Of the figure, 18 are gun-related, broken down as 12 shooting threats, two actual shootings and four cases of violations of RA 10591, or the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition.

Twenty-six cases are bomb threats, four stabbing incidents and two death threats.

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, meanwhile, renewed his push for a social media ban to restrict access to minors vulnerable to online groomers and radicalization.

He also backed Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who pushed to amend the existing Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children (OSAEC) and Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials (CSAEM), to include in the proposed law provisions protecting children against nihilistic violent extremism (NVE).

In sponsoring her proposed “Child Online Protection and Safety Act,” Hontiveros stressed the need to include in the comprehensive child protection law a separate provision to address the alarming cases of radicalization of children in online gaming platforms and social media.

“Tacloban happened. And then another horrific tragedy, this time in Ateneo de Zamboanga,” Hontiveros said.

Gatchalian said his proposed social media ban would complement child protection laws by protecting minors below 16 years from online predators.

Gun safety

To help curb gun-related violence, the PNP is eyeing additional and more stringent gun safety measures for gun ownership permits.

PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said the measures will focus on the safekeeping of firearms and ammunition. He is looking at requiring a comprehensive gun safety seminar for applicants of license to own and possess firearms and firearms registration.

He said gun owners renewing licenses should also be covered by gun safety seminars.

“The gun-related incidents in schools and communities, particularly involving minors, all boil down to the issue of accessibility to firearms. This is where the intervention should also focus on and this is what we in the PNP will address,” he said.

The government is reassessing security measures to prevent violence similar to the shooting incident in Ateneo de Zamboanga, Malacañang said.

“Given the latest incident in Zamboanga, we are continuously reviewing the security situation and existing measures in schools, especially if there is a need to augment or fix,” Palace press officer Claire Castro said at a media briefing.

“Our focus is on prevention, mitigate any threat, conduct proper assessment and ensure close coordination for immediate police response,” she added.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) appealed to the media to be responsible when reporting sensitive issues like shooting incidents involving minors.

“We respectfully appeal to them to exercise extreme care and responsibility in their coverage,” PCO Secretary Dave Gomez said.

Sen. Erwin Tulfo is pushing for legislation that would hold gun owners and legal custodians criminally liable if their negligent storage allows children to access firearms and use them to commit acts of violence.

In a privilege speech, Tulfo on Wednesday cited recent tragedies in Tacloban and Zamboanga City, noting that the firearms used in both campus shootings were traced back to adult relatives working in the government.

“When a firearm in the hands of an adult finds its way into the hands of a child, and that firearm is used to kill or seriously injure another person, where does responsibility begin – and where does it end?” Tulfo asked. – With Evelyn Macairan, Gilbert Bayoran, Neil Jayson Servallos, Marc Jayson Cayabyab