Can You Legally Carry a Gun in Bangsamoro? — The Law on Unregistered Firearms, Security Companies, and Private Armies

In the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), in southern Philippines, a peace process is underway between the government and organizations that had waged an armed struggle.

This leads some people to assume that “ordinary residents and former combatants in Bangsamoro can freely carry guns,” or that “the private armies of politicians and powerful clans are tacitly tolerated.”

The legal answer, however, is clear.

Even in BARMM, possessing an unregistered firearm is illegal, and firearm registration, carry permits, and the licensing of security companies are governed, in principle, by the same national laws that apply throughout the Philippines.

If there is a distinctive feature of BARMM, it is not that firearm possession has been liberalized — it is that the disarmament of former combatants and the dismantling of private armed groups are being pursued through special mechanisms tied to the peace agreement.

Unregistered Firearms Are Illegal in BARMM Too

The basic law governing firearms in the Philippines is Republic Act No. 10591, the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act.

This law applies nationwide, including in BARMM. There is no general legal exemption for BARMM residents, politicians, powerful clans, or former MILF/MNLF members.

At minimum, the following steps are required to legally own a firearm:

LTOPF: an individual license to own and possess firearms
Firearm registration: registration of each owned firearm with the PNP
PTCFOR: a permit to carry a registered firearm outside the home
Firearm transport permit: required to transport a firearm to a shooting range or other designated locations

Holding a firearm-ownership license does not automatically entitle a person to possess any and every firearm. Each individual firearm must be registered with the Firearms and Explosives Office of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Unregistered guns, guns with serial numbers filed off, stolen guns, guns possessed by someone other than the registered owner, and guns whose license or registration has lapsed can all qualify as a “loose firearm.”

Even a legally registered firearm requires a separate permit to be carried outside the home. Having a license and registration does not mean one can freely walk around with a gun on one’s hip.

During election periods, the Commission on Elections’ (COMELEC) gun ban adds a further layer of restriction — a separate COMELEC permit may be required in addition to an ordinary firearm license.

Can Former MILF/MNLF Members Carry Guns?

Being a former member of the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) or MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) does not, by itself, constitute a firearm license.

Circumstances such as “having taken part in the peace agreement,” “having held an organizational weapon since before,” or “needing it for local security” do not, on their own, entitle a person to privately possess an unregistered firearm.

For the MILF, “decommissioning” — the phased registration, verification, and disarmament of combatants and weapons — is being carried out under the peace agreement.

This is not, however, a system for converting a former combatant’s weapon into a legally private civilian firearm. It is a procedure, as part of the peace process, for removing combatants and weapons from organized armed status.

Nor does the fact that decommissioning has not yet been completed for a given weapon mean that former combatants are free to carry it.

The disarmament process between the government and the MILF has not been fully completed through its final stage. The disarmament issue within the peace process therefore needs to be considered separately from the firearm registration system that applies to individuals.

The JPST Is Not “MILF’s Private Police”

BARMM has what are called Joint Peace and Security Teams (JPST).

The JPST is composed mainly of:

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
The Philippine National Police (PNP)
Selected, trained members of the BIAF, the MILF’s former armed wing

Looking at this structure alone, it might appear that the MILF holds its own police authority.

But the JPST is a limited, transitional joint body formally established under the peace agreement. Its area of operation and mandate are confined to what the government and the MILF have agreed to; it is not a permanent police organization run independently by the MILF.

There is a clear difference between someone formally part of the JPST handling weapons in the course of official duty, and a former MILF member carrying an unregistered firearm on their own judgment.

BARMM’s regular police force remains, without exception, part of the PNP — the Police Regional Office Bangsamoro Autonomous Region — under the command and supervision of the national police.

Are Security Guards Really Capped at 500?

Under the former Republic Act No. 5487, the number of guards a security company could employ was capped at different levels depending on the region.

Under the old system, the cap was 1,000 in Metro Manila and similar areas, 500 in other cities and first-class municipalities, and 200 in other municipalities. This is why the belief that “security companies are capped at 500” remains widespread.

This law, however, has been replaced by the new Republic Act No. 11917, the Private Security Services Industry Act.

Under current law, a private security agency may employ up to 2,000 licensed private security personnel, in principle, per company.

Old law — Metro Manila and similar areas: 1,000
Old law — other cities, first-class municipalities: 500
Old law — other municipalities: 200
Current law — private security agency: 2,000

This 2,000-person cap applies equally in BARMM. The BARMM government has no independent authority to grant security companies unlimited personnel or weapons.

In-house security units that protect a company’s own facilities may be classified differently from private security agencies that offer services to outside clients. Even so, they remain subject to PNP licensing, supervision, and firearms regulation.

Can a Security Company Build an Armed Group?

A security company is a private business that obtains a proper license and provides security services for facilities, businesses, residences, banks, and the like.

When guards use firearms in the course of their duties, they must comply with conditions covering company and firearm registration, guard qualifications, Duty Detail Orders, deployment locations, and working hours.

A security company license is not a means of legitimizing the private armies of politicians or powerful clans.

If guards are used to intimidate during election campaigns, pressure political rivals, run private checkpoints, police residents, or intervene by force in land disputes, that goes beyond the scope of ordinary security work.

Even firearms registered to a security company can create separate legal liability if taken off the work site without authorization, or handed to someone other than a registered guard.

What matters is not simply whether the gun itself is registered — but who is using it, under what qualification, where, and for what purpose.

Politicians’ and Clans’ “Private Armies” Are Not Permitted

In the Philippines, cases of politicians, powerful clans, and business figures maintaining large numbers of armed personnel have long been a problem.

The 1987 Constitution, however, mandates the dismantling of private armies and armed groups not recognized as legitimate state institutions. This applies to BARMM as well.

In government documents, a Private Armed Group (PAG) is generally characterized by the following features:

Composed of two or more people
In possession of legal or illegal firearms
Uses fear, intimidation, or violence
Operates for private political or economic gain

It should be noted that even if a group’s members hold registered firearms, that does not make the group’s activities lawful.

If several people carrying legal firearms intimidate voters or attack a rival clan on a politician’s orders, they may be assessed as a private armed group even though their firearms are registered.

Conversely, simply employing multiple guards through proper channels does not automatically make an entity a PAG. What matters most is whether the activity constitutes authorized security work, or intimidation and violence for private political or economic ends.

How Far Are “Vigilante” Groups Permitted to Go?

It is not inherently illegal for local residents to prepare for crime or disasters by providing information to police or conducting night patrols.

But if a community group starts holding unauthorized firearms, running checkpoints, making arrests, conducting interrogations, imposing punishment, or evicting people from land, that goes beyond ordinary crime-prevention activity.

Belonging to a vigilante group is not, by itself, grounds for possessing an unregistered firearm. Local custom, preparation for clan feuds known as “rido,” or distrust of the police likewise do not provide a blanket legal exemption.

At the same time, groups formally established as auxiliaries to the military or police, and incorporated into the state’s command structure, are distinguished from ordinary private armies.

That said, if members of a formally recognized auxiliary group act privately on the instructions of a politician or clan, their official status does not exempt them from responsibility.

Special Measures Are in Place to Dismantle Private Armies Around BARMM

In 2015, the Philippine government established the National Task Force for the Disbandment of Private Armed Groups, targeting the Bangsamoro region and its surrounding areas.

The scope covers not only BARMM but also neighboring areas of Mindanao.

This measure was deemed necessary due to circumstances including the following:

Clan feuds
Powerful local families maintaining continued political dominance
The prevalence of illegal firearms
Poverty and gaps in public services
Private misuse of police and military auxiliary organizations
Violence and intimidation tied to elections

According to a Philippine government announcement as of July 2025, the task force had dismantled 15 private armed groups, processing 94 members and 86 firearms, and had begun dismantlement measures targeting 37 groups identified as potential private armed groups, covering 187 members and 304 firearms.

While this represents some progress, it does not mean the problem of private armies has disappeared entirely from BARMM and its surrounding areas.

Rather, because regular police, former anti-government organizations, security personnel for local politicians, armed clan groups, and criminal organizations all coexist in the same areas, the work of clarifying who holds legitimate authority continues.

Does Being a Private Army Alone Lead to Immediate Punishment?

The Constitution calls for the dismantling of private armies and unrecognized armed groups, but in criminal cases, specific charges are applied based on the actual conduct involved.

These include violations such as:

Possession of an unregistered firearm
Carrying a firearm without a permit
Threats, coercion, and assault
Murder, injury, and kidnapping
Illegal detention or checkpoints
Election obstruction and voter intimidation
Involvement in rebellion or terrorism

So the mere fact that a group has been labeled a PAG does not mechanically determine guilt. At the same time, if members of a private army possess illegal firearms and commit acts of violence or intimidation, they may face liability for multiple offenses.

BARMM’s Firearms Regulations Are Not Uniquely Lax

The key points can be summarized as follows:

Unregistered firearms: illegal under nationwide law
Carrying a registered firearm outside the home: in principle requires a PNP carry permit
Weapons held by former MILF/MNLF members: organizational history alone does not legalize them
Cap on security company personnel: 2,000 in principle under current law
Private armies of politicians and clans: not permitted, subject to dismantlement
JPST: a formal, limited joint body established under the peace agreement
A BARMM-specific firearms license: does not exist; the PNP’s nationwide system applies

The influence of firearms and armed groups on society and politics may appear more conspicuous in BARMM than in other regions. But that is not because firearms regulation there is more relaxed.

It reflects the difficult transitional process of collecting weapons accumulated over years of armed conflict, reintegrating former combatants into civil society, and dismantling private armed groups.

Under the law, former combatants, politicians, clans, and religious leaders alike are not free to possess unregistered firearms.

The real challenge in BARMM is not whether the laws exist, but whether they can be enforced consistently, without being swayed by local politics or clan relationships.

Coming Up in Part 4:

Part 4 will look at the armed organizations that became parties to the Bangsamoro peace process.

What distinguishes the MNLF, the MILF, the BIFF, Abu Sayyaf, and the Maute Group from one another? How far has disarmament progressed? What are their leaders and former commanders doing today?

It will also examine whether former members who received amnesty or immunity can run for office, and under what circumstances a past criminal record results in the loss of the right to vote or run for election.

*This article is a general explanation based on laws and government materials confirmable as of August 2026, and is not legal advice regarding any specific case.

Key References:

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Can You Legally Carry a Gun in Bangsamoro? — The Law on Unregistered Firearms, Security Companies, and Private Armies (Part 3 of 4)