MALACAÑANG assured that it will go after politicians who maintain private armed groups as the country prepares for the midterm election this May.
The campaign of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to dismantle private armed groups and account for all loose firearms continues to make the upcoming election safe and orderly, Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing in Malacanang on Monday.
It was reported that some members of Congress, particularly in the Zamboanga Peninsula, maintain private armies and the proliferation of unlicensed guns remains a concern.
“Yes. Loose firearms are certainly frowned upon. We are going to strengthen the security in that area,” Lacierda told reporters. “We are going to go after all those individuals who are holding loose or unlicensed firearms. Dismantling private armed groups is part of the directive of the President. He said the PNP should go after private armed groups regardless of who they are,” he added.
The President has ordered the PNP to make sure that firearms are accounted for and the gun ban should be strictly enforced particularly in Zamboanga. (PND)
Government working to secure civilians in the ongoing Sulu fight
THE government is working to ensure that no civilian will be harmed in the ongoing fighting between the members of the Moro National Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu, Malacanang said on Monday.
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda made an assurance during a press briefing in Malacanang Monday saying “the clash is occurring in a specific isolated area. Majority of occupants are either part of ASG or MNLF. What we have done as government is to secure the safety of the civilians in those areas.”
“So right now they’re being evacuated and Secretary Dinky Soliman is in fact in Mindanao right now and we have identified evacuation centers. The civilians in those areas are now in evacuation centers.”
The Sulu police said 13 people have been killed from the ASG side, while eight were recorded from the MNLF side after the fire fight in Kabbun Takas in Sulu.
Lacierda said they still don’t have information to verify whether the MNLF fighting the Abu Sayyaf are integrees to the military.
The Palace official also allayed fears that the MNLF, which forged a peace agreement with the government in the mid-1990s, will abide by the law and not target other armed groups in Mindanao. (PND)