Monday, November 26, 2007 Rama: Firearm laws for the armed citizen By Karlon N. Rama Stage Five
THIS is a segment of a talk delivered in a seminar late last week – KNR).
We will approach the subject by examining important points of Republic Act 8294, particularly its Implementing Rules and Regulation.
But for us to see the bigger picture, it is necessary that we not only discuss the present law but also the backdrop upon which the law was made.
Our laws are peculiar from that of the United States, from whose Constitution we copied, rather heavily, provisions that would later become our Bill of Rights.
In the United States, they have the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
This right forms part of their Common Law and, writes Oliver Dickerson, in Boston Under Military Rule, dates back from the time their people, forming militias and then into a standing regular army, rebelled against Britain and declared their independence.
But in the Philippines, firearm ownership is a privilege that the government contends it can extend and, just as easily take away.
This is a position of fear—the fear by the ones governing of those they govern—and dates back to when we were a colony of Spain, which continued during the American Occupation and the Commonwealth Period, progressed during the Martial Law years and, to a certain extent, still continues up to now.
THE SPANISH CONNECTION. The Law on Firearms and Explosives in the Philippines is a substantive embodiment of acts, rules, decrees, executive orders and jurisprudence dating as far back as the early Spanish Period.
The records Juan de Salcedo commissioned for the 1570s revolt of who were then called the indios of Las Islas Filipinas showed that firearms—to include the lantaka (canons) and astingal (muskets) were already in existence here in the Philippines as early as the late 1500s.
And while authors Ned Nepangue MD and Celestino Macachor, in their 2007 book Cebuano Eskrima, cites how the Spanish Authorities armed and trained conscripted natives from Cebu during the campaign that captured Zamboanga, another author—Atty. Emmanuel U. Topacio in his book the Law on Firearms and Explosives—noted that the Spanish Authorities divested the citizenry of any form of arms when the first stirrings of the Katipunan were felt.
In fact, Topacio speculated that the elegant Barong Tagalog was the endorsed form of clothing for natives at that time because its semi-transparent material made it difficult to tuck weapons like knives or muzzle-loading handguns.
And when the Americans moved in, defeating the resistance in the Filipino-American War of 1899 to 1902, the same restriction on firearms was imposed.
The lack of firepower was a key element in the defeat to America. Writer, historian and journalist Ambeth Ocampo, in Mabini’s Ghost, wrote of how Americans were first able to sink a shipload of arms from Hong Kong bound for Luzon. Bamboo spears, bolos and raw courage were simply not enough for the Americans with their Mausers and Enflields.
THE JONES LAW. With the Americans in power came the Jones Law and its amendment to the Administrative Code of 1917.
The law has provisions governing firearms—these may be owned and carried by authorities and civil employees. Sec. 887 concerns firearm ownership by citizens and sets conditions.
“Any person desiring to possess one or more firearms for personal protection or for use in hunting or other lawful purposes only, and ammunition thereof, shall make application for a license to possess such firearms or ammunition as hereinafter provided.
“Upon making such application, and before receiving the license, the applicant shall, for the purpose of security, deposit a United States or Philippine Government bond, or make a cash deposit in the Postal Savings Bank in the sum of Forty Pesos for each firearm for which the license is to be issued and shall endorse the certificate of deposit therefore to the Philippine Treasurer.
“In lieu of a cash deposit, a personal property bond, bearing the endorsement of two people, will suffice. And in the absence of a deposit or a property bond, a surety company may put up the bond at the price of One Hundred Pesos per firearm.”
At this point, we are constrained to ask, how much was P40 worth in 1917? Firearm laws have been draconian for the ordinary man since the past. (to be continued.)
