Remulla pushes firearm inspections, internet controls for minors

Sam Benedicto

Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” C. Remulla called on the Supreme Court to allow police to inspect the homes of licensed gun owners, while also planning to meet with officials of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and Congress to discuss Internet-limiting measures for minors.

Moving in response to the third reported gun attack inside a Philippine school since June, the interior chief  made a petition to the Supreme Court to legalize Philippine National Police (PNP) inspections in the houses of private residences where legal firearms are kept, noting a ruling that prohibited the police from doing so.

“In the three perpetrators of the shooting, lahat legal firearms, lahat government employees, lahat hindi nakatago nang tama. There has to be a right for the  state to inspect the gun owners’ premises kung tama ang storage nila ng baril,”  Remulla suggested.

Remulla said that as the agency that approves gun ownership, the PNP should also have the power to inspect private firearm storages, emphasizing that recent incidents stem from  minors’ access to firearms.

Additionally, Remulla is also planning to meet with the DICT and the Congress to “put an end to this,” aiming to implement similar measures to Australia’s Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, which requires individuals to be at least 16 in order to use social media platforms.

“We had a meeting with the developers of games. Ang nangyayari diyan, they play the video games, yung sidebar is on [a] different platform sa Meta. Roblox sila naglalaro pero yung conversation sa iba,” Remulla said to reporters.

He said that unlike previous generations exposed only to a handful of TV channels, minors today have access to harmful influences such as the deep web, Satanism, nihilism, anti-LGBT content, and chat groups encouraging crime, reiterating the need for legal safeguards to protect children 

“It is a tragedy which continues to happen, and we must all act together. It is no one’s fault. It is not the fault of Congress; it is not the fault of the PNP; it is not the fault of the LGU. This is the fault of a young man who was influenced by the deep dark web. We should not put blame on anyone and rather, we should have sympathy and empathy, and we should condole with those who lost their lives, but we must act together as a country,” he said.

Remulla also underscored that youth depression requires accessible mental health support  to avoid mental breakdowns and the temptation to explore violence and nihilism.