LAMITAN CITY, Basilan –– With the continuous efforts in managing and restricting the movement of firearms in the province, 34 assorted firearms were surrendered on March 20 from the different barangays of Lantawan town in Basilan Province.
Since then, the municipality of Lantawan has been active in the implementation of the Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Program in its areas.
Nursiya Ismael, mayor of Lantawan, commended those who surrendered their loose firearms for the improvement of their municipality. She also expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Captain Marvin S Jacinto, commanding officer of the 19th Special Forces Company for unwavering support in forming the overall peace and order in the municipality.
Hadji Manny Muarip, provincial administrator of Basilan, said that the province is optimistic about sustaining peace by managing the movement of firearms which are the main reasons for crimes and violence in the communities.
Col. Frederick Sales, 101st Infantry Brigade deputy commander, recognized the efforts of the 4th Special Forces Battalion led by Lt. Col. Bernard Samin, and Ismael, facilitated the surrender of Loose Firearms in line with the Small Arms Light Weapons Program.
“There are more than 300 weapons surrendered to us which is going to be demilitarized and destroyed beyond use and repair,” Sales said.
Sales added that surrendering firearms is one way to account for loose firearms. “There are people who own loose firearms, how do we account for those if we don’t have a program other than decommissioning?,” Sales said.
“The 4th Special Forces Battalion will continue to perform the highest standard of duty and sacrifice on attaining the overall peace and prosperity of Lantawan Municipality and Basilan Province as a whole,” said Sales.
