KIDAPAWAN CITY–Local officials from four North Cotabato towns on Thursday turned over some 350 loose firearms to the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade in a ceremony held at the provincial capitol gymnasium here.
Brigadier Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander, said the guns were collected by local executives of Aleosan, Pigcawayan, Libungan and Kabacan towns in support of the government’s “Balik Baril” program.
The assorted firearms included M-14 rifles, M-16 rifles, M79 grenade launchers, Garand rifles, 12-gauge shotgun rifles and homemade pistols.
North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Mendoza, who led the local officials during the turn over rites, urged other unauthorized gun holders to surrender their firearms before the deadline on July 31.
“After July 31, the Army and police would conduct punitive actions against those who refused to surrender their unlicensed guns,” Mendoza said.
Local officials have shown their support to the government’s disarmament program by responding to the military’s call to collect firearms from civilians in their respective localities.
Before Thursday’s surrender rites, five other towns in the province have turned over illegal firearms to the military. Since January, more than 1,000 assorted firearms were surrendered to the military in North Cotabato, the Army said.
Sobejana admitted that some of the guns surrendered to authorities were dilapidated, unserviceable “but can still be used to kill anyone.”
He said after the deadline on July 31, the military and the police will conduct a massive campaign against unauthorized possession of firearms, noting that Mindanao remains under martial law. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
