Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte on Saturday pushed for the passage of a bill imposing stiff taxes on gun owners in order to reduce the number of firearms in private hands.
Villafuerte, principal author of House Bill 367, said the imposition of higher taxes on guns held by persons “who are not in law enforcement” will raise funds for programs against gun violence.
The bill, co-authored by three fellow congressmen from Camarines Sur, namely, Miguel Luis Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata of Camarines Sur and
Bicol Saro Rep. Nicolas Enciso VII,I seeks amendments to the 2013 law on firearms and ammunitions to make gun ownership costlier by imposing a 10 percent tax on small firearms or handguns, ammunition and accessories, and a higher 11 percent tax on other firearms along with the ammunition of, and add-ons or accessories.
The proponents envisioned the additional revenues to be generated by their measure to be used exclusively for promoting responsible gun ownership, reducing firearms-related violence, and other programs enhancing peace and order in communities.
“Our bill uses a novel approach to address this peace-and-order issue,” Villafuerte said of HB 3367. “Through a market-based strategy, HB 3367 aims to reduce the number of guns in circulation by raising the cost of ownership while using tax revenue to actually promote preventive and capacity-building measures for the professionals responsible for regulating the gun industry in the country.”
“This is not just about gun control; it is also a means to raise extra revenue for the government,” Villafuerte said.
“This proposal, which shall be known as the Firearms, Ammunition and Accessories Tax Act (FAAT), seeks to introduce amendments to amend Republic Act 10591, the law that government gun possession.
RA 10591 was signed in May 2013 by then-President Benigno S. Aquino III.
In the bill’s explanatory note, its authors pointed out that there are an estimated 726,181 unregistered guns as of 2018, based on the expired licenses in the data system of the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s Firearms and Explosive Office (FEO).
However, FEO chief Col. Kenneth Lucas bared in a news release posted on FaceBook last January that there were at least 4.12 million registered firearms, while around 1.7 million were considered loose guns.