MANILA, Philippines?The military and police are keeping a close eye on 170 private armies across the country, most of them in the restive Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), officials said Thursday.

Based on a watch list of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines of ?partisan armed groups,? 68 have already been validated, 25 of them in the ARMM.

Security forces are validating another 102 groups on the list, of which 77 are in the ARMM, said PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa.

?They are in our watch list, the 102 groups, but we are still looking for indicators and we are still anticipating for them to really take shape,? Verzosa said during a weekly media forum, attended by AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Victor Ibrado and Commission on Elections Chair Jose Melo.

Verzosa said the PNP separated the list of armed groups monitored in ARMM from those found in other parts of the country ?because almost all areas in the region are included in the election watch list.?

Ibrado also stressed the importance of identifying and validating the list as this would help ?in the performance of the mandate? of a commission tasked to crush private armies before the May elections.

The officials on Thursday signed an agreement spelling out the role of the military and the police in the upcoming balloting.

Gun ban

Under the joint directive, authorities were to strictly implement a gun ban, authorizing them to arrest and investigate all persons in civilian attire carrying firearms during the election season.

Earlier, President Macapagal-Arroyo named six members that would compose a multisectoral commission that would dismantle private armies in four months amid the rising incidence of political violence in the countryside.

Ms Arroyo ordered the creation of the body last month following the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao that was blamed on the powerful Ampatuan family and their private armies.

558 ?hotspots?

In the run-up to the elections, the police would also conduct a ?web of operations? in the 558 cities and towns included in the list of ?hotspots,? Verzosa said.

In ARMM alone, 118 towns have been identified as areas of concern, he said.

Also placed on the list were cities and towns where the authorities had monitored intense political rivalries and have recorded cases of election-related violence, Verzosa said.

He added that the police would infuse in these areas additional logistics and force that would conduct checkpoints, apply and serve search warrants ?targeting wanted persons of which we believe are members of partisan armed groups.?

?Strong arm?

Melo told reporters that the sensitive areas included La Union, Abra, Nueva Ecija and parts of the Bicol region.

On Wednesday, Ibrado said the military would be the ?strong arm? in the mission to dismantle private armies in the country with the police taking the lead.

?There might be cases where the police cannot match the heavy weapons used by these armed groups,? he said.