MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine National Police (PNP) has no record of any permit to transport firearms and ammunition issued to any member of the Ampatuan clan, who are believed to be the owners of the recovered high-powered firearms and ammunition in Maguindanao.

In an interview over dzMM on Wednesday, Chief Superintendent Alfredo Caballes, chief of the Philippine National Police's Firearms and Explosives Division (PNP-FED), said his office has checked its records from 5 years back, and they did not find any permit to transport issued to any members of the Ampatuan clan.

Caballes said the PNP has no control over the quantity of firearms and ammunition that an individual can buy from authorized arms dealers.

However, those who buy firearms and ammunition must get a permit to transport these weapons from the police so that it can provide security.

"Individuals who want to buy big quantities of ammunition, they can transact directly from authorized firearms dealers," Caballes said.  He said his office enters into the picture only in the transport of the ammunition or firearms.

"They should get or secure from us a permit to transport," he said. The PNP-FED usually assigns police escorts to the buyer during the transport of the firearms and ammunition.

The police official said buyers should seek the permit if they are buying more then 50 rounds of ammunition. He did not say if the PNP-FED imposes a limit on how many firearms or ammunition an individual can buy from an authorized arms dealer.

Caballes, meanwhile, said his office has yet to receive copies of the lot numbers of ammunition recovered by security forces in Maguindanao province, which has been placed under a state of martial law.

Majority of the ammunition recovered were marked Armscor or the Arms Corporation of the Philippines.

The PNP is filing rebellion charges against 24 people, including former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan.

Authorities believe the firearms and ammunition recovered in Maguindanao could have been used by the Ampatuan clan’s private armies in the alleged rebellion, which is the main basis of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s martial law imposition in the province.