NBI asks PNP to cancel Bato dela Rosa's firearms license

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has formally asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) to immediately cancel the firearms license of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa.

According to a letter addressed to PNP chief General Jose Nartatez Jr. and signed by NBI Director Melvin Matibag, the PNP was also asked to order Dela Rosa to surrender 118 registered firearms to the nearest PNP unit or the NBI within 48 hours from notice, or upon apprehension.

The NBI noted that the senator’s registered firearms include semi-automatic and select-fire rifles, UZI submachine gun variants, high-powered .338 caliber rifles, battlefield-grade shotguns, and a broad array of handguns.

“Law enforcement officers tasked with serving the ICC warrant are placed in extraordinary and disproportionate peril so long as these weapons remain in the subject’s lawful possession,” the letter read.

“The immediate confiscation of these firearms is a necessary and proportionate measure to protect their lives,” it added.

The NBI also asked the PNP to coordinate with all territorial units, particularly in the Davao Region, to effect the immediate confiscation and safekeeping of the registered firearms upon Dela Rosa’s apprehension or compliance.

This is pursuant to Dela Rosa’s crimes against humanity case before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Dela Rosa is the subject of an arrest warrant for “alleged criminal responsibility as an indirect co-perpetrator” in the crimes against humanity of murder from July 3, 2016, until the end of April 2018, wherein at least 32 persons died.

“The NBI stands ready to provide all supporting documentation, legal assistance, and operational coordination as may be required,” the letter read.

“We respectfully urge that this request be acted upon with the urgency the law and circumstances demand,” it added.

Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida said he will also speak with Nartatez regarding the cancellation of Dela Rosa’s firearm license.

“Gun ownership and having a license to gun ownership are not a right but a privilege. At any time, the state, the republic, should not have its tools and its mechanisms limited,” Vida said in a separate press briefing.

“I’ll talk to General Nartatez about that and I expect that it should be revoked at the soonest possible time,” he added.

The PNP earlier said it would evaluate and act on any request for the revocation of the license of firearms registered to Dela Rosa. —AOL, GMA News