MANILA, Philippines ? Let the commission against private armies do its job first, a member said, as it appealed to the public to suspend judgment.

The body faced a "gargantuan task,'' anti-crime advocate Dante Jimenez conceded Saturday but believed that the group could play a big role: to help make the May elections work by crippling mostly clan-dominated armed groups.

"To those who are apprehensive about this commission, wait till the commission is constituted and organized. Give us time,'' he said in a telephone interview. "Allow us to move forward. We will need the support of everyone.''

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Thursday named the members of the commission that would address the problem of private armies and how to eliminate them before the national elections in May.

Arroyo, who ordered its creation December 4 in the aftermath of the November 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao blamed on the Ampatuan clan, has yet to designate its head, and set a date for its convening.

The other members are Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos, Mahmod Mala Adilao of the Ulama-Bishops Conference, retired Brigadier General Jaime Echeverria, retired Philippine National Police Deputy Director General Virtus Gil, and broadcaster Herman Basbano.

Christian Monsod, a former chairman of the Commission on Elections, doubted if the commission would make progress if it were a mere "recommendatory body.''

Jimenez, president of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, agreed with the observation that the commission faced an enormous task of accomplishing its mission before the elections.

But he said he readily accepted Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita's invitation because he believed that if it accomplished its mission, it would have done half of the job of the Commission on Elections.

"Private armies can render the automated elections inutile, especially in Mindanao. With all the political dynasties, private armies can make or unmake a President,'' he said.

If the commission's recommendations to dismantle private armies are adopted by the President and enforced, and in effect, "help give credibility to the elections, then we would have done our mission,'' he said.

Private armies have been used by political clans and dynasties to intimidate and harass people to influence voting and keep their grip on power.

Given the time-frame for its mission, the trick would be to focus its investigation and prosecution on leaders and members of "partisan armed groups'' already identified by the Philippine National Police, Jimenez said.

"We won't get them all at once. We should target the big private armies identified by the PNP, and then we investigate and prosecute them. That's the most we can do in such a very limited time,'' he said.

There are disparate private armies scattered around the archipelago, and the national police has lost count of them. Mindanao is home to many private armies.

Maguindanao, site of the massacre, tops the PNP list of election "hot spots'' troubled by private armies. The others are Basilan, Sulu, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Samar, Masbate, Nueva Ecija, and Abra.

"The institutions are there. We have to work double-time, even triple-time, so we won't waste people's money,'' Jimenez said when asked if their mission was doable in four months. "It's a tall order; it's a gargantuan task.''

Vested with the powers of an investigative body, the commission can summon witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony or evidence, and undertake procedures to produce relevant documents.

It can deputize the PNP, the Armed Forces, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice and any law enforcement agency to help perform its function, among others.

In the end, everything would boil down to the President's political will to crack down on the private armed groups, Jimenez said.

"No. 1 is political will,'' he said. "If we're able to finish our recommendations, then the President approves them, and gives directive to the third line, prosecution, then there will be now a strong signal to the politicians and non-politicians maintaining private armies.''