ZAMBOANGA CITY –The campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte to recover all loose and undocumented firearms has continued to gain headway here in Mindanao, military officials announced Wednesday.
This, as another 81 assorted loose firearms were voluntarily surrendered to the Army’s 1st Infantry Division by officials and residents of three towns in Lanao del Sur.
Of the total loose firearms, 27 were surrendered on Monday by the residents of Maguing, Lanao del Sur to the Army’s 63rd Infantry Battalion headed by Lt. Col. Rizaldo Laurena.
Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) information officer, said the surrendered firearms included one caliber .30 machine gun; three caliber .30 M1 carbine rifles; 11 M-16 Armalite rifles; one M4 5.56-mm rifle; two M-14 rifles (one with scope); five shot guns; and, five 9-mm Ingram machine pistol.
The remaining 54 firearms were surrendered last March 24 by the residents of Lumba Bayabao and Masiu, Lanao del Sur in a simple ceremony.
Those who attended the ceremony were officials of the two towns and Lt. Col. Edgar Allan Villanueva, commander of the Army’s 49th Infantry Battalion.
“This endeavor was made possible through the continuous collaboration of our infantry units and the local chief executives of Lumba Bayabao and Masiu municipalities relative to the national campaign against loose firearms,” Maj. Gen. Roseller Murillo, Army’s 1st Infantry Division commander, said.
The firearms that were surrendered were caliber 5.56-mm rifles; caliber 7.62-mm rifles; caliber .30 M1 and M2 carbine rifles; shotguns; caliber .45 pistols; caliber .38 pistols; caliber .357 magnum pistols; and, caliber .22 pistols.
“These (firearms) will eventually be subject for demilitarization similar to what we did to the recovered fireams in Marawi in order to prevent the use of deadly weapons in committing crimes and lawless violence,” Murillo said
As of March 26, the firearms that were surrendered to the Army’s 1st Infantry Division also known as Joint Task force Zampelan have already reached 162.
Based on the previous reports, the first batch of turned over firearms accounted for 43 from Piagapo, Lanao del Sur last March 18 and 11 from Lumbatan, also in Lanao del Sur last March 18.
For the entire area of Westmincom, a total of 1,304 firearms were already surrendered to the security forces with the following breakdown: 179 from Joint Task Force Central; 185 from Joint Task Force Zampelan; 222 from Joint Task Force Zamboanga; and 718 from Joint Task Force Sulu.
“In line with the pronouncement of President Rodrigo Duterte, the campaign against loose firearms was launched by the entire Western Mindanao Command through our Joint Task Forces to implement the Security, Governance and Development Strategies of Martial Law in Mindanao,” Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., Westmincom chief, said. (PNA)
