Lanao Sur local execs surrender unlicensed firearms to military
Mindanao Peace Process • 12:45 PM Sun May 2, 2021
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By:
John M. Unson
The unlicensed firearms are now in the custody of the 82nd Infantry Battalion. (From 82nd IB)
MARAWI CITY --- Local officials in three towns surrendered unlicensed firearms Saturday in compliance with the government’s disarmament campaign as part of the Mindanao peace process.
In a statement Sunday, the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade said the unlicensed firearms were voluntarily turned over by owners to the 82nd Infantry Battalion based in Barangay Pawak in Saguiran, Lanao del Sur.
The firearms the 82nd IB collected --- a 12 gauge shotgun, a .50 caliber Barrett sniper rifle, a 7.62 millimeter sniper rifle, two launchers for 40 millimeter grenades, a KG9 machine pistol and a .38 caliber revolver --- were surrendered by local officials in Buadipuso Buntong, Ditsaan Ramain and Bubong towns in Lanao del Sur.
Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command, on Sunday lauded the local executives for turning in their unlicensed firearms to the 82nd IB.
Vinluan said credit for the feat partly goes to the municipal peace and order councils in the three towns and the inter-agency provincial peace and order council under Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr..
The multi-sector MPOCs in the three towns and the Lanao del Sur PPOC are actively supporting Malacañang’s campaign against illegal possession of firearms, according to Vinluan.
Vinluan said the disarmament program complements the normalization agenda of Malacañang’s peace overture with Mindanao’s Moro communities.