PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte's proposal to provide guns to civilian volunteers that will assist the police in fighting crime is not only impractical, it is dangerous. He even offered to lecture the volunteers on the laws on arrest, search and seizure procedures. The onus of defending the nebulous concept of the armed civilian crime fighter falls on the Philippine National Police chief, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, who apparently, is clueless about Duterte's vision. Lacson offered what seems to be a more sensible alternative to arming civilian anti-crime volunteers: stricter gun control. There must be ironclad guarantees that civilian volunteers do not turn into police-sanctioned vigilantes.

Source: Manila Times June 28, 2021 14:26 UTC