Aquino: Government gaining vs private armies

President Benigno Aquino III INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday said the government has made headway in the dismantling of private armed groups more than a year before the mid-term elections in 2013.

Mr. Aquino said he recently had a meeting with concerned officials on the government’s operations against private armies and was informed that at least one group in Kalinga had been “neutralized.”

“We did have a meeting—I don’t remember the exact date but not to this—wherein we assessed the private armed groups and the result of that meeting was a revalidation of whether or not the data is still correct,” President Aquino said when asked for an update on the campaign against private armies.

“The one that comes to my mind… is a Kalinga group that has been rid recently, neutralized. They’ve arrested quite a number of people identified with this private armed group; filed with necessary charges; confiscated firearms,” he added.

President Aquino said that in nearby Abra, “we are told that there is a marked dimunition of the violence normally being experienced in Abra.”

“I can’t go into all of the details but it’s quite an extensive list and I’ve tasked the PNP specifically for the continuing efforts to remove all of these private armed groups that everyday exist not only (in) the ARMM,” President Aquino said.