Davao councilors ask for gun ban exemption

DAVAO CITY — Members of the Philippine Councilors’ League (PCL) are seeking  exemption from the firearms ban implemented here because of martial law in Mindanao.

Davao City Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, PCL national chairperson, has asked Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to exempt PCL members from the gun ban in Mindanao in the light of the recent killings of politicians in differrent parts of the country.

In a letter addressed to Lorenzana on July 18, Dayanghirang said some PCL members were gun holders who also had Permits to Carry (PTC) firearms, but were barred from carrying them because of the gun ban.

Because of the security threats facing local officials, they needed those firearms for their self defense, he said.

“Rampant killings of politicians are already alarming and in just a span of six months, two councilors were killed in the north,” said Dayanghirang, who also served as the press relations officer of the Union of Local Authorities in the Philippines.

“Most local officials are faced with threats especially when ordinances they pass directly affect the lives of some people,” he said.

“If the exemption would be granted, we can be assured of our safety and be able to execute self-defense at all times,” Dayanghirang said.

PCL members who are PTC holders would comply with the requirements as long as they’d be be allowed to carry firearms, he also assured Lorenzana.

In the first week of July alone, four local officials were killed in different parts of the country, including Tanauan City Mayor Antonio Halili in Batangas province; General Tinio town Mayor Ferdinand Bote in Nueva Ecija, newly elected Barangay Councilor Michael Magallanes of Zamboanga City, and Trece Martires Vice Mayor Alexander Lubigan in Cavite province.

A total of 15 mayors and vice mayors have been reported killed in different parts of the country since 2016.  /lb