One of every 87 Filipinos owns a gun. Sort of.

At no other point in Philippine peace time history has gun ownership hit an all time high. It is the preferred device for settling official, political, personal and even family disputes out of court. Many Filipinos romanticize gun ownership in action film where real life is many times based. Guns help project power, machismo or respect all via the fear it instills.

The national police pegs at 1.1 million, the number of guns either ignorantly or deliberately left undocumented by civilians. The same police statistics says, of crimes committed from 2004 to 2008, guns were the weapons of choice by perpetrators, so much so that the Philippines now ranks 10th in a list of countries world wide where guns are popularly used in 97% of all homicide cases (you’d think the knife’s more popular?). In fact RP is the only country in Southeast Asia enjoying such notoriety. No takers.

Gun ownership is loose because Filipinos have easy access to branded or even home made weapons. Where else in the world can a town lay claim to being a “home made gun capital”? In Cebu’s Danao City, gun-making is quite legal, with 2 gunsmith cooperatives getting the government’s blessings, to manufacture guns of trademark precision and admirable craftsmanship. Like good sculpture.

Gun ownership laws are also weak and its enforcers, corruptible. Disarmament efforts are focused on rebel groups that can only account for about 15,600 firearms, or a little less than 2% of all guns stashed probably in drawers and closets in Filipino bedrooms. Pro Gun organizations promote guns to protect loved ones. Like insurance, they give civilians a fighting chance against crime. A worthwhile investment.




The Philippine National Police takes a step towards firearms control by holding the first national summit on firearms control. Among the steps to reduce illegal gun possession are stricter licensure procedures, stiffer penalties on loose firearms in the context of some 25 existing bills related to gun control. The summit’s timing could not be more perfect with the May 2010 polls where guns will be used to help win elections.


But more than a summit for the refurbishment of gun control laws, what the Philippines needs is a gun culture change. Filipinos should start thinking that like any other device a gun has a purpose. It is made to kill. One cannot buy one and hope he’ll never use it. Until we as a people acknowledge that a gun less society is the best way to fight crime, the Philippines can never take a shot, at being a better place.