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Monday, November 24, 2008
Civilians can carry firearms for only P25
ALEOSAN, North Cotabato -- Trapped in perennial conflict since the 1970s, this fourth-class municipality embodies gun culture that is officially sanctioned by the local government unit (LGU) at a cheap price.
"If you own a gun and are a registered resident, you can get a permit to carry it around town for only P25," said Manuelito Hillado, the municipal information officer.
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He said out of the 32,875 residents, there are still "law-abiding" citizens as far as local gun licensing is concerned, although the actual number of firearms in their hands is difficult to determine.
"Only around 60 MRs [Memorandum Receipt] to carry firearms have been issued since the start of the year," said Hillado, reading from a record book at the mayor's office that keeps tab of authorized gun holders.
The license to carry guns around the locality, which has 19 barangays, is good for only three months.
This reportedly offers more chances for the LGU to make money from gun holders -- even if the amount is very minimal -- as they would have to renew three more times a year.
Mayor Loreto Cabaya Jr. said the LGU has allowed some firearms to be carried anywhere in the town, which include .38 and .45 pistols and 12 and 20 gauge shotguns.
He said the arming of civilians in his town has so far helped them maintain peace and order.
"In the first three weeks of conflict a few months back, armed civilians managed to hold some 3,000 MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) rebels at bay since the soldiers did not move in immediately in deference to the government's ‘primacy of the peace process’ policy,” he recalled.
He said the firearms of the members of Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO) are provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and their guns are mostly vintage Garand and Carbine rifles.
The CVOs are under the supervision of the local military and the police.
Cabaya said that CVOs are helpful in keeping the peace and order in the locality given a scanty local police force with only 22 members.
"Considering the threat [from the MILF remains] and some of our villages still considered critical areas, we are counting on the CVOs for community defense," the mayor said.
Cabaya reiterated that other civilians also have their guns for protection from possible attacks from Moro rebels.
Inspector Orlando Panzo, the municipal police chief, meantime said "a CVO member normally gets an allowance of P400 to P500 a month."
Panzo noted that CVOs haven't had any specific training and they are waiting for a memorandum circular from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) that would make them police auxiliaries.
Such order would provide the CVOs with appropriate training on how to handle firearms that would make them effective force multipliers, the police chief said.
Panzo also noted that under the law, CVOs are normally not authorized to handle firearms but it is tolerated in conflict areas in Mindanao areas.
In fact, 40 pieces of Garand and Carbine were recently turned over to the CVOs with memorandum orders from the LGU, he said.
North Cotabato officials have called for the arming of civilians with the sighting of MILF forces in several communities even before August, this year.
The Moro rebels' supposed occupation of some villages in this town and nearby Midsayap prompted Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno to issue an ultimatum to force the guerrillas to withdraw, which they did after trading bullets with armed civilians and government troops.
Skirmishes eventually flared up between the military and the MILF forces that continue to this day, particularly in Maguindanao, where "renegade" MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato and his men are reportedly holed up.
The botched signing of the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) has been blamed for the war that displaced half a million civilians in different parts of Mindanao. (BSS/Sun.Star General Santos/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Manila. (November 24, 2008 issue)
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