Gun control tightened in the Bangsamoro

SURRENDERED Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. (first, left) examines the guns surrendered to authorities by residents of Basilan on Oct. 17 as part of a government program to siphon off loose firearms in the Bangsamoro region. —OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER ON PEACE, RECONCILIATION AND UNITY

COTABATO CITY—Authorities are looking forward to an improved security atmosphere in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) during next year’s historic regional polls, especially with the surging number of loose firearms being turned in to the military and police.

Based on official data, at least 1,000 loose firearms have been siphoned off by authorities throughout the region as of mid-October, in a yearlong implementation of the Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) management program supported by the Japanese government through the United Nations Development Programme with the cooperation of the local governments.

Authorities have also hauled a number of illegal guns through intensified operations against armed groups.

“The management of loose firearms is needed to ensure a peaceful, orderly and credible election in the BARMM,” said Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez, Jr.

He added: “This program is very crucial, as we gear up for the first parliamentary elections in the BARMM,” he added.

He called on those who were still in possession of illegal firearms to take advantage of the program, in which they could convert their guns “into plowshares and (their) bullets into seeds of peace.”

So far, the SALW program has made a strong headway in Basilan province, with various communities gaining livelihood support in exchange for over 900 weapons turned in.

A community in Sumisip town received a wheel loader, three tractors with disc plow and various farm inputs, courtesy of the Japanese-funded Assistance for Security, Peace, Integration and Recovery for Advancing Human Security in BARMM (Aspire), a program facilitated under the normalization track of the 2014 peace deal between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

In the town of Hadji Mohammad Ajul, residents were provided with solar-powered ice block machines to ensure the freshness of their produce, a mini delivery cargo van, a tractor with disc plow, 500 free-range chickens and various farm inputs.

Reduced crimes

“The project hopes to finally eradicate loose firearms in our town and give chances to those who want to change their lives,” said Mayor Talib Pawaki of Hadji Mohammad Ajul town.

The Aspire program aimed at reducing the loose firearms in the Bangsamoro by registering and stenciling these unlicensed weapons in exchange for socioeconomic support for communities.

Sumisip Mayor Jul-adnan Hataman said the program is helping Basilan break from its past image as a hotbed of conflict and lawlessness to “a story where peace is the foundation and development is the path forward.”

Brig. Gen. Alvin Luzon, commander of the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade based in Basilan, said the incidence of violence on the island province went down by over 70 percent compared to last year, as more unlicensed firearms were siphoned off from the communities.

Basilan Gov. Hadjiman Hataman-Salliman said the province is “now enjoying favorable peace and order conditions with no cases of kidnapping and violence recorded in recent years.”

In Maguindanao del Sur, 26 assorted firearms from gun holders in South Upi town were surrendered to the Army on Monday.

“These residents voluntarily surrendered their weapons as part of our SALW management program,” said Lt. Col. Aeron Gumabao, commanding officer of the Army’s 57th Infantry Battalion.

Concerted effort

These brought to over 150 the count of assorted firearms either surrendered to or seized by soldiers of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division in Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato and Sarangani provinces.

The SALW program is on top of the decommissioning of MILF combatants and their weapons, and the transformation of Moro National Liberation Front forces.