’16 security guards held for gun ban violation have expired or no license’

MANILA, Philippines — Sixteen of the 22 “security guards” have either expired or no license to work as one  when they were arrested for  violating the nationwide gun ban, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).   

Citing data from the Civil Security Group (CSG), PNP Public Information Office chief Col. Randulf Tuaño said only three security guards have the license to work as a security guard, while the licenses of three others are still under further validation. 

“Ayon sa kanilang report sa kanilang validation doon sa 22, tatlo lang daw pala ang may valid license as security guards, meaning officially three lang yung datos natin dapat sa security guards after validation ng CSG through Sosia (Supervisory Office on Security and Investigation Agency),” Tuaño said in a press briefing. 

(Based on their validation efforts on the 22 security guards, only three have valid licenses as security guards. This means officially, only three security guards were in our data on gun ban violators. This came out from the CSG’s validation through Sosia.)

“At 10 sa nahuli sa 22, ay no license, meaning hindi siya opisyal na security guard at meron din six na expired na ang kanilang license, meaning hindi rin siya security guard at meron silang for further validation na tatlo,” he further reported. 

(10 of the 22 had no license, meaning they are not officially security guards, while six had expired licenses, which means they were also unauthorized to work as security guards. We also have three others for further validation.)

Currently, Tuaño said they are awaiting the recommendation of the CSG after the investigation on the three security guards, whose licenses are still up for validation. 

Based on the National Election Monitoring Action Center’s latest data, PNP earlier said that it arrested 971 individuals who reportedly violated the nationwide gun ban. 

Of the 971 gun ban violators, most are civilians (921), followed by 22 security guards, eight Armed Forces of the Philippines personnel, and five PNP members, among others. 

 The gun ban was imposed by the PNP last January 12 — the start of the election period. 

 The police force said that its imposition of a gun ban is aimed at ensuring peace and order, as the government believes it could lessen gun-related violence during the upcoming midterm elections.