ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—Who wants to know if Gov. Abdusakur Tan of Sulu owns at least two armored vehicles with mounted .50 cal. machine guns?
His rival in the May balloting, Rep. Munir Arbison, does. He wants police and military officials to conduct an investigation.
“It is highly unauthorized and unquestionably illegal,” said Arbison, who is on his third and final term as congressman and is running for Sulu governor.
Tan, who is seeking reelection, denied ownership of the two armored vehicles, saying the suggestion was libelous. “There is no truth to it,” he said.
“Why would I need armored vehicles in the first place when the province is under state of emergency,” Tan said, referring to the action taken during the kidnapping of three Red Cross workers in March.
Arbison claimed that the armored vehicles were purchased through the help of retired police and military generals, but he refused to identify them.
The government, he said, should confiscate Tan’s vehicles in line with President Macapagal-Arroyo’s directive to dismantle all private armies in the country.
Fighting back, Tan urged the military and the Philippine National Police to investigate Arbison’s dealings with the Ampatuans from whom huge caches of weapons had been seized following the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao.
“The police and military, including the media, should investigate the landing of 300 firearms in Luuk town,” he said.
Luuk belongs to Arbison’s congressional district.
“He is allegedly providing firearms to the Ampatuans, as well as to the barangay officials in Luuk. In fact, there’s a report that 300 high-powered firearms landed in his town in Luuk right after the Nov. 23 massacre,” Tan said.
Lt. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command chief, said the military had not received any report of an arms landing in the town. “We will verify that provided we have strong basis,” he said.
Dolorfino also said that Tan was not using any military armored vehicle. “Try checking with the PNP,” he said.
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