Lacson on arming village execs: Ask Congress first

Sen. Panfilo Lacson reminded President Rodrigo Duterte that the proposal to arm village officials would have to be approved by Congress first.

Arming village officials to fight drugs and crimes, according to Lacson, was “not as simple as what the President wants.”

“There are laws and procedures to be observed,” said Lacson, chair of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs.

If the firearms would come from the government, Lacson said funds had to be appropriated in the national budget which would need Congress action.

The President repeatedly raised the possibility of arming village chiefs to serve as front-line soldiers in the war on drugs and criminality. —DJ Yap