Poll season: PNP hunting 77 private armies

PNP Spokesperson Chief Supt. Benigno Durana Jr. INQUIRER.net file photo

The Philippine National Police is now after at least 77 active private armed groups with 2,060 members nationwide.

Chief Supt. Benigno Durana Jr., PNP spokesperson, said most of the private armies (72) were in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“They know the police are hunting them down,” Durana said.

“They should think twice or just start planting ‘kamote’ because even before they can flex their muscles, we have already started targeting them as early as two months ago,” he said.

Durana said police continued to verify the number of private armed groups for updating, but 100 to 200 “potential” private armies were being watched.

These have been “inactive for a while” and could just be waiting to surface once “market season” begins, he said.

8,000 hot spots

PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde had said an initial list of hot spots, or areas of concern, showed nearly 8,000 villages being a focus of police operations.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said police should start deploying men to the hot spots.