By Julie Alipala
Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 17:44:00 09/01/2010
Filed Under: Politics, firearms, Armed conflict, Security (general), Police, Military
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Military and police officials in Western Mindanao and in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have admitted difficulties in dismantling private armed groups.
Lieutenant General Ben Dolorfino, Western Mindanao Command chief, said on Tuesday the difficulty has been more glaring in Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-tawi, all part of the ARMM.
“It's very hard really to dismantle private armed groups,” Dolorfino said.
He said dismantling private armed groups would entail a lot of work such as building up a case against those involved.
Dolorfino said since the May 10 elections, they only managed to dismantle one group with five members.
The group, he said, operated in Zamboanga del Norte.
According to Brigadier General Rustico Guerrero, Philippine Marine Corps commandant, the practice of some politicians to hire militiamen as police auxiliaries or members of the barangay (village) police has effectively legitimized the existence of private armies.
The military, therefore, has been in a dilemma on which private armies to run after, Guerrero, who visited Sulu last Monday, said.
“We have problems on systems and identifications,” he said, adding that it has been difficult to say who could be considered members of private armed groups.
Chief Superintendent Angelo Sunglao, commander of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao, said some elected officials could be considered patrons of armed groups.
Sunglao said the police have been trying to convince the patrons of armed groups and their men to turn in their firearms.
But he quickly added that “it is our big challenge.”
Lieutenant General Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command, said the cooperation among the police, the military and the communities would be crucial in the campaign against private armed groups.
Ferrer has jurisdiction over some ARMM areas.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20100901-289972/Police-military-admit-difficulties-in-dismantling-private-armies
