PNP to set up one-stop shop for gun licensing

The Philippine National Police is set to open next year a one-stop shop in Camp Crame to shorten the processing time for applications and renewals of gun licenses.

PNP Director General Ricardo Marquez said during the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday of the P73 million, two-story structure that apart from being a “physical symbol that there are improvements in Camp Crame,” it is also their way of giving back to the country’s responsible gun owners.

New era

“We are breaking ground for a new era of better, faster and more efficient services for the community,” Marquez said of the project which is line with his priority program of bringing the firearms and security guards’ licensing closer to the people.

Marquez said that the one-stop shop of the PNP’s Civil Security Group (CSG), whose construction is set to be bid out by January, is expected to reduce the processing time to only a day for those applying for a license to own and possess firearm and license to exercise security profession, among others, by housing under one roof such facilities as the neuro-psychiatric and drug testing centers as well as the bank for the payment of relevant fees.

Currently, since these offices are spread throughout Camp Crame, some applicants take more than a day to renew their licenses, which Marquez said in effect “discourages responsible gun ownership.”

Speedy service

“The public is looking for speed. That’s what [they] want to ask from the government and we are very sensitive to that. That’s the very reason we are setting this up,” Interior Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento said.

CSG chief Director Elmer Soria said the one-stop shop is also expected to almost double the number of daily applicants for gun licenses from 300 to 500 individuals.

Marquez said the budget for the construction of the building, which will rise at the former site of the PNP’s Internal Affairs Service building that burned down in June, will come from the trust receipts of licensed gun owners.

PNP data showed that as of Oct. 30, there are 897,327 firearms holders in the country and over 1.8 million registered firearms. The same data showed that more than 485,000 firearms have expired licenses.