MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Monday dismissed claims that members of the House of Representatives pushed for an alleged ₱8-billion budget insertion intended for the purchase of rifles for the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Speaking at the House appropriations committee hearing on the Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) proposed 2026 budget, Remulla was asked by Deputy Speaker Yevgeny Emano about rumors of an allocation for 80,000 firearms.
Remulla explained that the request did not come from lawmakers but from a private individual.
“Last July 29, I received a text message from a firearms dealer, followed by a letter for me to sign that was supposedly to be addressed to the House leadership. The message mentioned it would be a congressional insertion,” Remulla said. “To be clear, no congressman ever contacted me. It was a lobbyist pushing for it.”
The Interior chief added that he immediately referred the matter to then-PNP chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III, since the DILG lacks the technical capacity to evaluate firearms procurement. “Our bids and awards committee only handles office supplies and minor activities. I asked General Torre and General Jean Fajardo to assess the request,” he explained.
Emano, representing Misamis Oriental, sought to clarify the issue, noting that the term “Congress” may be misunderstood in some regions as referring only to representatives. Remulla reaffirmed: “For the record, no legislator approached me.”
The controversy emerged after reports circulated online of a letter supposedly from the PNP requesting the budget insertion for 80,000 rifles, each priced at ₱100,000. Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. has since called for a congressional inquiry, questioning both the cost and the process.
Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno earlier said the House would also investigate, stressing that no such allocation appeared in either the 2025 or 2026 national budget.
Remulla, who previously declared his openness to a congressional probe, maintained that his office had no role in pushing the firearms request. “If such an insertion were to prosper, it would not have come from us,” he said.
Meanwhile, questions remain on whether Torre’s removal as PNP chief was linked to his handling of the proposal. Abante, in his letter to the House committee on public order and safety, urged lawmakers to determine whether the former police chief’s relief was tied to his refusal to sign off on the firearms request.
“The public deserves answers,” Abante stressed.
