''Paltik'' is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

term for a homemade gun. It is usually manufactured using

scrap metal Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

and

angle iron Structural steel is a category of steel used for making construction materials in a variety of shapes. Many structural steel shapes take the form of an elongated beam having a profile of a specific cross section. Structural steel shapes, sizes, ...

. These homemade weapons are usually manufactured in

Danao, Cebu Danao, officially the City of Danao ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Danao; fil, Lungsod ng Danao), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 156,321 people. Danao is within the M ...

, where the production of replicas of known firearms is a

cottage industry The putting-out system is a means of subcontracting work. Historically, it was also known as the workshop system and the domestic system. In putting-out, work is contracted by a central agent to subcontractors who complete the project via remote ...

. The manufacturers claim to be able to replicate any gun, although they prefer to mass-produce six-cylinder

.38 caliber .38 caliber is a frequently used name for the caliber of firearms and firearm cartridges. The .38 is considered a large firearm cartridge; anything larger than .32 is considered a large caliber.Wright, James D.; Rossi, Peter H.; Daly, Kathleen ...

revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

s. The Philippine government notes that these firearms are of low quality, even if some are considered as "Class A" or high quality. Danao has the most concentration of factories since the 1940s, but ''paltik'' production can also be found in

Negros Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

, and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

. The

Moro Islamic Liberation Front The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF; ar, ''Jabhat Taḥrīr Moro al-ʾIslāmiyyah'') is a group based in Mindanao seeking an autonomous region of the Moro people from the central government. The group has a presence in the Bangsamoro r ...

were also known to produce ''paltik'' but were unable to upscale their production due to government pressure. The ''paltik'' suffered from poor accuracy and low quality firing mechanisms. Some lacked grooves in its bore, making its shots inaccurate. Due to poor craftsmanship, the weapon was more dangerous to the shooter than the target. Some

gunsmiths however, did make reliable

percussion cap The percussion cap or percussion primer, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. This crucial invention gave rise t ...

rifles that functioned in a manner similar to a 19th-century musket. ''Paltiks'' are still being made illegally in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

today. These were being registered during the administration of President

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

but this "legalization" was revoked and all registered ''paltiks'' had to be surrendered to the government. President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...

signed Executive Order No. 171 in 2003 which prohibits ''paltiks'' from being licensed. The ''paltik'' is effectively a

ghost gun A privately made firearm (''also referred to as a ghost gun, homemade firearm, or eighty-percenter)'' is a firearm that is produced by a private individual rather than a corporate or government entity. The term is used mostly in the United State ...

; an unregistered weapon bearing no serial numbers. High quality replicas of

.45 caliber This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the to caliber range. *''Length'' refers to the cartridge case Case or CASE may refer to: Containers * Case (goods) A case of some merchandise Merchandising is any practic ...

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol is a type of repeating single-chamber handgun ( pistol) that automatically cycles its action to insert the subsequent cartridge into the chamber (self-loading), but requires manual actuation of the trigger to actuall ...

s have been recorded being made in the Philippines and ending up in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...

References

Philippine–American War Homemade firearms Insurgency weapons {{Philippines-stub

See also

References