COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Acting Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is pushing for an accounting of loose firearms in the region by offering amnesty on gun registration and licensing.
Former Anak Mindanao party-list Representative Mujiv Hataman. Photo from congress.gov.ph
Hataman’s move was anchored on the administration’s desire to institute reforms in graft-ridden and violence-prone region.
“I am coordinating with the government law enforcement agencies to offer amnesty on gun registration and licensing,” Hataman said in a news conference.
Gun possession in the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi has been considered a status symbol and a way of life.
Hataman has admitted that the region is rich in loose firearms, including those in the hands of Moro rebels.
“This administration is also tapping the support of the religious communities in the region to help us push forward this plan of putting an end to the seemingly unstoppable proliferation of loose firearms in the autonomous region,” he said.
Lawyer Anwar Malang, ARMM executive secretary, said Hataman had recommended to the national government the deployment of more prosecutors in ARMM to help litigate many cases of vendetta killings.
“This is to stop the practice of aggrieved parties resorting to retaliation instead of bringing the case before the bar of justice,” Malang said.
Military and police estimates of loose firearms could reach to as many as 40,000 in the region’s five provinces.
Hataman is scheduled to convene the Regional Peace and Order Council this week to get updates on the peace and order situation of the ARMM more than a week after he assumed office as officer-in-charge governor.
Also this week, Hataman is expected to announce his official Cabinet officials who will help him institute genuine reforms in the corruption-laden region.
His first act after being installed by Interior and Local Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo was to cancel all existing logging permits issued by former ARMM officials.