Gun permits being issued, says PNP

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippine National Police said there was no disruption in the issuance of permits to carry firearms outside one’s residence (PTCFOR) following PNP Director General Alan Purisima’s preventive suspension in December.

The police force’s spokesman Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr. said PNP officer in charge Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina has been approving temporary PTCFOR cards. Cerbo did not say how many permits had been issued by Espina.

The PNP Firearms and Explosives Office has been issuing temporary permits which do not bear the signature of the PNP chief, according to some gun owners.

The PTCFOR can only be signed by a full-time PNP chief and is different from the license to own and possess a firearm (LTOPF), which gun owners must first secure before their guns can be licensed.

A PTCFOR authorizes a gun owner facing serious threats to his or her safety to carry a firearm. It costs over P6,000.

Cerbo said Espina was given additional powers to approve LTOPFs but these do not carry his signature.–Julie M. Aurelio