Two organizations representing firearms enthusiasts and other licensed gun owners urged the government to beef up the country’s defenses and make it better prepared to repel an invasion by a foreign power.
War anxieties have gripped many Filipinos amid China’s increasing aggression in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and the recent discovery of pockets of Chinese nationals entrenched in several communities around the country, some found to be armed and involved in illegal enterprises.
In an interview, lawyer Ernesto Tabuhara III, secretary general of the lobby group Peaceful Responsible Owners of Guns (PROGUN) Philippines, pointed out that despite hurried efforts to modernize the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), it is still likely to find itself short in manpower if pitted against Beijing’s two-million-strong army.
“The recent tensions in the West Philippine Sea have once again brought to the forefront of discussions our preparedness as a people (to put up resistance) against foreign invaders. What are clear-cut territories of the Philippines are now being forcefully claimed by China. Allowing civilians to arm themselves (creates) a force multiplier for our military… which is woefully undermanned and ill-equipped,” he told Manila Standard on Thursday.
Tabujara said that the incumbent administration’s recent decision to restore civilians’ ability to purchase “military-style” rifles, with bore diameters not exceeding .30-caliber, is a step in the right direction.
It can be recalled that Republic Act 10591 or the “Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act” of 2013, allows civilians to legally acquire and own semi-automatic rifles chambered in military calibers, but this privilege was arbitrarily suspended by then-President Duterte in 2017.
Duterte is known for being a staunch ally of the incumbent Chinese leadership under Xi Jinping.
Lawyer Teodoro Bonifacio, Jr., a founding director and de facto president of A2S5 Coalition, echoed PROGUN’s position but also called for a revival of the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program in the country’s universities and colleges.
He said an armed population would be a formidable deterrent against foreign states with expansionist ambitions if afforded some military training, allowing able-bodied individuals to be constituted into a “citizens’ militia” when needed.
Bonifacio also called out the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office (PNP-FEO) for introducing new rules that make it harder for gun owners to transport firearms to shooting ranges which, he said, only serves to discourage civilians from gaining proficiency with their firearms.
“They (PNP-FEO) should be glad when legal gun owners seek to sharpen their skills. A trained gun owner is a safe gun owner… and also more useful should they be called to defend the country. Looking back at history, the guerilla movement that fought the Japanese occupation during World War II was mostly made up of ROTC graduates and recreational hunters… they were effective because they were proficient with their rifles,” he pointed out.
