Jonvic Remulla clears DILG deputy’s son from P8-B firearms budget insertion try 

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Monday that the son of one of the agency’s undersecretaries has nothing to do with the alleged attempt to insert an P8-billion budget for the procurement of firearms in the 2026 national budget. 

The DILG secretary confirmed that he indeed received an “unsolicited proposal” about the purchase of 80,000 rifles.

“I received the unsolicited proposal and my reply was that…it was addressed…without revealing too much, I will give you the document, sir. But the letter and the text was addressed to me, and the text implied that there is an available fund for P8 billion for the purchase of rifles,” said Remulla during the budget hearing on the department’s proposed budget for next year. 

“They gave me a form copy to blindly sign, and my response was that the DILG is not the end user of this product and not in the technical capacity to assess whether or not we need the rifles,” he added. 

Akbayan Party-list Representative Chel Diokno initially asked Remulla who sent the proposal. In response, he said: “Sir, do you want to see the actual evidence who solicited the proposal? [....] I will submit it to the body.” 

House Committee on Human Rights chairperson Representative Bienvenido Abante earlier called on the House Committee on Public Order and Safety to look into the attempted insertion of P8 billion for the purchase of rifles for the Philippine National Police (PNP). In calling for the congressional probe, Abante claimed that Adrian Sañares, the son of retired general and current DILG undersecretary for peace and order Nestor Sañares, brought the letter about the proposal to then PNP chief General Nicolas Torre III. 

For his part, Remulla said that Sañares’ son did not do the solicitation. 

“So I referred it to the office of General Torre for his assessment whether or not it’s needed. However, the role of General Sañares’ son was merely to deliver my letter [to Torre], asking him to review the product. There was no solicitation on his part…it was my instruction for him to deliver it personally,” he said. 

The Interior Secretary earlier said that Torre was not removed his post as PNP chief for rejecting the gun purchase proposal. Remulla said that both he and Torre rejected the unsolicited budget proposal. 

“I cautioned General Torre, three times, and I have all the dates here on my phone, to be very careful in his recommendation about the purchase of the rifles because they were insertions in nature, and my office frowns on insertions. He concurred with me that the Philippine National Police does not need the rifles,” said Remulla. 

“I received the letter and communications for me to sign, July 29, and since then it was never moved. Because both General Torre and I were in unison that the PNP did not need the rifles that were being proferred to us.” — BM, GMA Integrated News