MANILA  - The Philippine National Police recommended Thursday a 30-day extension of the nationwide gun amnesty, which is to end on October 31.

Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, PNP public information office chief, said the PNP leadership recommended the extension due to public clamor and the expected onslaught of Typhoon Santi on Friday.

He said the PNP has received 119,000 gun amnesty applications on record.

He said gun owners could get their firearms registered simply by paying P1,000 for every unlicensed firearm and P650 for every firearm with expired license.. He said processing time would take less than 10 minutes for guns with clean records.

PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa earlier offered rewards to tipsters who will help crack down on an estimated 1.1 million loose firearms in the country.

Verzosa said loose firearms have several categories: formerly licensed firearms with expired registration (550,000), individual persons with unlicensed guns (520,000) and firearms handled by rebels and criminal elements (15,000 to 20,000).

"We have a reward system right now to account for loose firearms. Our proposal is to give P50,000 for recovery of three to five firearms. If there is increased recovery for stashes of firearms, we will evaluate the reward to be given," he said.

He added that the Office of the President has allotted P5 millon for the campaign against loose firearms.

Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) showed the Philippines ranked tenth among the countries with a high rate of gun-related homicides, Verzosa said.