PNP eyes stricter gun ownership process

The Philippine National Police (PNP), through its Civil Security Group, is seeking to solidify efforts to impose stricter gun ownership process amid the growing number of road rage shooting incidents recently.

PNP-CSG director P/Maj. Gen. Edgar Alan Okubo disclosed that he has already “ordered concerned regulatory offices” to strictly observed processes in owning a gun in an exclusive interview with DAILY TRIBUNE.

He added that he has also directed concerned agencies for the strict implementation of procedures for obtaining License To Own and Possess Firearms (LTOPF) and the crackdown of “fixing” activities and illegal transactions.

Okubo also disclosed that the order caused the relief of handful personnel who was initially proven to have illegal transactions using the online system, adding that while security breach was detected couple of weeks ago at the Firearms and Explosive Office, they were able to retrieved the data and are now just waiting to be back “online this week” to process licenses and gun ownership documentations.

Upon assuming as CSG director on 6 May, Okubo said he ordered the streamlining of processes of regulatory offices under his command like the License to Exercise Security Profession (LESP) and License to Operate for security guards and agencies under the Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies (SOSIA).

The security breach, according to Okubo, made all information systems of FEO and SOSIA to temporarily halted “to give way to the conduct of cyber security measures in order to fortify security protocols on the said systems.”

“The deactivation of the systems resulted in full stop of transactions, but once the system is reactivated, the applications will go beyond the capacity of concerned offices to process within reasonable time such as the Health service for the processing of Neuropsychiatric Examination and Forensic Group for the processing of Drug Test. While the SOSIA also anticipates the same issue since LESP and License to Operate applications have been piling up and stakeholders have been complaining,” Okubo said.

Now that the security breach has already been addressed, Okubo conducted inspection at CSG One-Stop Shop, “with just a handful of clients clinging to the bleak chance of having their applications be processed.”