ZAMBOANGA CITY – Military officials in the province of Sulu are optimistic that the other elected officials and residents will follow the footstep of a town mayor who voluntarily surrendered their unlicensed guns to the government authorities.
This was the statement of Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Joint Task Force Sulu commander, after Mayor Anton Burahan of the island town of Pata and his barangay heads surrendered assorted high-powered firearms to his command.
Pata, which comprises of 14 barangays, is a fifth class town in the province of Sulu with a population of 22,163 base on the 2015 census.
The island is a four-hour ride by motorboat from and to the Sulu mainland.
“I am optimistic that they (other elected officials) will also surrender their high-powered firearms or any firearms for that matter so that this place will become a gun-free province,” Sobejana told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.
“I am pleased by the action of Mayor Anton Burahan and other officials and residents of Pata, Sulu of voluntarily surrendering their loose firearms. The commendable action of a local chief executive and responsible citizens of Pata may serve as example for other government officials and residents here in the province of Sulu and the whole of Mindanao so that the road to peace is realized,”Sobejana said.
Col. Armel Tolato, Philippine Marine Ready Force-Sulu commander, said among the high-powered firearms Burahan and his barangay chairpersons have surrendered on Feb. 2 included three 81-mm mortars; one 90-mm Recoilless Rifle; and, caliber .50 machinegun.
The other firearms were three M-14 rifles; three M-16 Armalite rifles; and, hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Tolato said that 17 more assorted high-powered firearms were surrendered to the Marine Battalion Landing Team-1 (MBLT-1) detachment in Pata town after February 2.
Sobejana said that an additional 20 high-powered firearms and assorted ammunition were voluntarily surrendered by the municipal officials and residents of Pata town around 10 a.m. Friday.
The firearms were turned over the the headquarters of the 31st Marine Company in Barangay Simbangon, Pata.
The firearms surrendered on Friday morning are the following: four M-16 Armalite rifles; one M653 “Baby Armalite” rifle; 13 caliber .30 M1 Garand rifles; one Sig 7.62-mm rifle; and, one caliber .30 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR).
Hundreds or rounds of ammunition and a number of assorted magazines were also surrendered.
Sobejana said that more loose firearms are expected to be surrendered as they continue the effort to make Sulu a gunless province.
“This is to ensure that terrorism, criminality and clan wars (rido) will be lessened, if not totally eradicated,” he added. (Teofilo Garcia, Jr/PNA)
