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Friday, October 20, 2006
Arroyo considers arming civilian volunteers
CAGAYAN DE ORO -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wants to arm members of barangay police and civilian volunteers organizations (CVOs) and bring them to the forefront in intelligence gathering and in the fight against insurgency and terrorism in Mindanano.
Arroyo through Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno who revealed plans to finally institutionalize the implementation of a system that will include intelligence gathering by barangay police and civilian volunteers especially in Mindanao.
He said the system will even evolve to granting these barangay police and CVOs their own "special permits" to carry firearms.
"They are our first line of defense," he said.
Puno was among the guest speakers for convention of the Confederation of Provincial Governors, City Mayors and Municipal Mayors League Presidents of Mindanao (Confed) led by Cotabato Governor Emmanuel Piñol at Pryce Plaza Hotel.
During the forum, Puno also asked Mindanao local officials to find out how many members of CVOs would be deputized as force multipliers for their respective anti-terrorism efforts; determine resources that could be allocated in the fight against terrorism at the local level; and coordinate with the police on the training of CVOs.
The deputization of CVOs, Puno said, is in accordance with Executive Order (EO) 546, which on top of making the police a co-equal partner of the military in fighting insurgency and other security threats, also authorizes the use of barangay police as force multipliers in the campaign to wipe out these threats.
Puno said members of CVOs would have to pass stringent requirements and undergo basic anti-terrorism training before they can be recruited and deputized by the police.
All CVO members, he said, would have to be issued identification cards and register with the police to be legitimately deputized by the police as force multipliers in the war against terrorism.
Puno said with terrorists becoming increasingly bolder in staging their attacks in Mindanao, the governors and mayors of the island should now lead the fight against terrorism by becoming actively involved in ongoing efforts to mobilize the community against this global scourge.
"The fight against terrorism has now become an urgent collective responsibility of all Filipinos," Puno said during the Mindanao Leaders Forum on Security and Terrorism in Cagayan de Oro City.
"Our governors and mayors should now lead the way in mobilizing communities in Mindanao to help our law enforcers combat this threat," he added.
Puno said he expects Mindanao's local chief executives to come up with the overall anti-terrorism plan by Thursday so that it could be presented to President Arroyo during her visit to the nearby province of Camiguin on Thursday afternoon. (Lizanilla J. Amarga of Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sunnex)
(October 20, 2006 issue)
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