M<\/span>ass shootings are a result of a confluence of factors, but at the heart of the problem are guns\u2014of which the Philippines has plenty. Firearms are sold openly in malls, and almost anyone can carry them, even priests<\/a> and accountants<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fixers can reportedly<\/a> take care of formalities standing in the way of gun ownership, such as drug and psychological tests, and there are estimated to be some four million firearms in the nation of 110 million people. Hundreds of thousands of weapons are illegally owned<\/a>. Poverty, corruption, crime, and outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s brutal war on drugs<\/a> have left deep social scars.<\/p>\n No consensus has been reached in the Philippines over what sets a mass shooting apart from other gun deaths, but indiscriminate slayings are uncommon. When eight people died and 11 were injured<\/a> after a drunk gunman began firing wildly in the southern province of Cavite back in 2013, the tragedy was notable for its sheer rarity.<\/p>\n To be clear, homicides involving firearms are<\/i> a fact of life in the Philippines. Hitmen can be hired for as little as $300. In fact, the Philippines is one of the deadliest places in Asia when it comes to firearm homicides<\/a>. The country saw over 1,200 intentional killings using firearms in 2019. This meant guns killed one in every 100,000 people in the Southeast Asian country\u2014one of the highest rates in Asia. (In 2020, the comparable figure for the U.S. is four.)<\/p>\n From the Archives:<\/strong> Inside Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s Drug War<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Elections can be particularly bloody times, with lethal attacks on poll officers and political rivals. One of the country\u2019s worst killings, the 2009 Maguindanao massacre<\/a> of 58 people, took place during a gubernatorial election. But it was a political atrocity. Shootings not related to politics or crime are uncommon\u2014and there has been nothing as extreme as Columbine, Sandy Hook, or Uvalde.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s just a matter of time,\u201d says Gerry Ca\u00f1o, Dean of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Cagayan de Oro College. \u201cI think our authorities and the public safety practitioners are just waiting for that time to happen, considering that Philippine culture is greatly influenced by the West, particularly the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, though, powerful social factors continue to have a restraining effect on indiscriminate violence. Philippine academic Raymund Narag, a criminology associate professor at Southern Illinois University and a former prisoner himself<\/a>, says mass shootings in his native country are in part deterred by hiy\u00e2<\/i>, a Tagalog word meaning shame or embarrassment. Avoidance of hiy\u00e2<\/i>, and sparing one\u2019s family and community from it, is often described as a core Philippine value<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt reflects on you, and reflects on your family,\u201d Narag says. \u201cWhen I was jailed, our entire clan felt humiliated.\u201d<\/p>\n Visitors view displayed firearms during the Tactical, Survival and Arms Expo in Pasay City, the Philippines, Nov.15, 2019.<\/p>\n Rouelle Umali\/Xinhua via Getty<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n While the right to bear arms isn\u2019t enshrined in the nation\u2019s constitution, as it is in the United States, there is no denying the Philippine love of guns.<\/p>\n When the U.S. colonized the Philippines in the early 1900s, private citizens were allowed to own high-powered guns for \u201clawful purposes\u201d and hunting<\/a>. After Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972, owners were limited<\/a> to one low-powered rifle and a pistol or revolver\u2014and both had to be licensed. But in 2000, President Joseph Estrada lifted these limits and allowed citizens to possess as many guns as they wanted<\/a>, of any type and caliber.<\/p>\n A 2013 law<\/a> set down qualifications for owning guns and carrying them in public. Licensed gun owners had to be 21 years old and take a firearm safety seminar, among other requirements. Depending on their license, most owners could possess up to 15 handguns, rifles and shotguns (collectors are allowed more than 15). Licenses were issued for as long as 10 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before he was president, Estrada was a gun-wielding hero in action movies\u2014a genre beloved of Filipinos for playing up machismo and depicting shootouts as legitimate forms of defense in a crime-riddled country. The action movie craze certainly helped Filipinos embrace gun culture.<\/p>\n Read More:<\/strong> These Countries Restricted Assault Weapons After Just One Mass Shooting<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n In some of the country\u2019s poorest communities, guns became a common sight among warring gangs, who sourced low-priced firearms from illegal sellers. Shooting clubs opened for those with more money and an interest in shooting for sport. Many affluent Filipinos took up gun collecting, while the wealthiest citizens began enthusiastically arming their bodyguards.<\/p>\n But despite the glorification of firearms, when gun violence takes place, the victims are rarely random bystanders in movie theaters or shopping malls. Almost a quarter<\/a> of the Philippine population falls below the poverty line and \u201cthe money or the reward seems to be the best motivating factor\u201d in many homicide cases involving firearms, Ca\u00f1o says.<\/p>\n In January, a provincial hitman admitted to committing his crime in exchange for $500 to help his child<\/a>, who was suffering from meningitis. In April, another gunman confessed to killing a mechanic for $400<\/a>.<\/p>\n Displaced children playing with wooden toy guns inside a temporary shelter area in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on August 22, 2018, in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, southern Philippines.<\/p>\n Jes Aznar\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Narag says the strong ties of Philippine kinship mean troubled individuals are more likely to be identified before they become mass shooters. He contrasts that with the situation in the U.S., where he presently lives and teaches.<\/p>\n \u201cHere, if you have problems, you have to go to a health professional,\u201d he tells TIME. \u201cYou\u2019ll divulge everything there. You don\u2019t talk to your neighbors\u2014sometimes you don\u2019t talk to your own parents\u2014because [there isn\u2019t] an engaged culture where one\u2019s problem is everyone\u2019s problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Jose Antonio Clemente, a professor of social psychology at the University of the Philippines, says community is everything. \u201cAt an early age, we are trained to give importance to our families and our relationships,\u201d he says. \u201cMaybe at some point we\u2019re also taught to value our community, since there are a lot of communities that are very close-knit because of the high population density.\u201d<\/p>\n Read More: <\/b>We Need to Take Action to Address the Mental Health Crisis<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n National police do have mass shooting protocols<\/a> in place. Authorities have also suggested an increased police presence<\/a> on college campuses to deter insurgent groups from recruiting students. But it seems that ingrained values in the Philippines are restraining people from using guns indiscriminately.<\/p>\n Whether that is enough is up for debate. For now, however, hiy\u00e2<\/i> means you cannot \u201cjust start shooting people,\u201d Narag says. \u201cBecause if that happens, you know the community won\u2019t support you.\u201d<\/p>\n More Must-Read Stories From TIME<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/api.time.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/GettyImages-1183290781.jpg?quality=85&w=1024\")
\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/figure>\nGun culture in the Philippines<\/b><\/h2>\n
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\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/figure>\nHow <\/b>hiy\u00e2<\/i><\/b> plays a role in social control<\/b><\/h2>\n
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