Mayors press Senate: Probe gun ban in 8 Iloilo towns

ILOILO CITY—Municipal mayors of Iloilo have urged the Senate to pursue an investigation of a controversial gun ban implemented but later withdrawn by the Philippine National Police  in eight towns in the province.

The provincial chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) has agreed to pass a resolution formally asking the Senate to investigate the suspension of permits to carry firearms outside homes.

Mayor Ma. Teresa Debuque, of Anilao town, president of LMP-Iloilo, said the 42-member league believed that a Senate investigation would help prevent what mayors said was the arbitrary enforcement of gun bans.

“While the gun ban was already lifted, there is still a possibility that this will be repeated unless clear guidelines, processes and parameters are defined,” Debuque told the Inquirer in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago filed a resolution on July 11 asking the Senate public order committee to investigate the controversial gun ban heavily criticized by local officials.

The gun ban was implemented in the towns of Ajuy, Balasan, Batad, Carles, Concepcion, Estancia, San Dionisio and Sara, all in the province’s fifth congressional district on July 5 and was supposed to last until Jan. 15 next year as recommended by Chief Supt. Cipriano Querol Jr., Western Visayas police director.

The towns of Barotac Viejo, Lemery and San Rafael of the same district were exempted.

PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo ordered the lifting of the gun ban effective Aug. 15 because he said threats of gun-related violence in the towns have “diminished.”

Bacalzo had pointed out that none of those arrested during the implementation of the gun ban were legitimate gun owners.

Local officials, including most of the province’s mayors, vice mayors and barangay captains, had opposed the gun ban because of lack of consultation. They also refuted the regional police office’s assessment that there was rising criminality in the area.

Debuque said clear guidelines were necessary for gun bans to avoid “very subjective and arbitrary” implementation and prevent abuses.