Ping questions carrying of Llamas' firearm by his aides

Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Monday questioned why the aides of presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas were carrying a high-powered firearm registered in his name if he wasn't even in the country. Last week, two of Llamas' bodyguards were found to have been carrying a high-powered firearm licensed to the presidential political adviser. In an interview on Monday, Lacson, a former National Police chief, noted that there shouldn't be any irregularity if the firearm, an AK47 assault rifle, was licensed and was accompanied by a permit to carry. However, he said the problem was that the firearm was licensed to Llamas and the two bodyguards were carrying it without him. "Walang justification kung sinasabi nila na kailangan nila ng firearms to secure Sec. Llamas. At that time... apparently he was out of the country," he said. But Lacson said that Llamas himself has a right to carry firearms if his life is under threat. At a press briefing earlier in the day, Llamas said he was facing 'credible threats' in justifying his possession of five licensed firearms. Llamas likewise said that he has dismissed his two security aides. In a separate interview, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile likewise said that it's only natural for people with the same position as Llamas to be under threat. "With his position that is a given. There is always a possibility of a threat... so he is entitled to protect himself," he said. But unlike Lacson, he said that there should be nothing wrong if his security detail were in possession of the firearm because he probably just "entrusted" the same to his men. "You cannot be keeping that somewhere else. You have to assign that to your men to protect yourself," he said. — Kim Tan/RSJ, GMA News