Cagayan de Oro City (August 23) – The 4th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army has demilitarized captured, confiscated, and surrendered and recovered (CCSR) 79 non-standard firearms.
The 79 weapons includes short firearms, M16, AK47, M1 Garand assault rifles, two M60 machine guns which were cut up to pieces and burned that all its parts cannot be assembled as a functioning firearm.
Colonel Filemon Radam, Jr, commanding officer of the 1st Logistics Support Brigade of the Army Support Command said that the demilitarization of the CCSR firearms takes a long process before the actual demilitarization.
The phase one is the determination that includes the reporting and the technical inspection of the firearms.
Phase 2 is the segregation where the firearms are segregated by (1.) evidence in court, (2.) PNP and other law enforcement agency;
3. firearms for expanded community livelihood integration program and 4. standard firearms and 5. non standard firearms that are subject to phase 3 or the implementation of demilitarization of the firearms.
4th Infantry Division Commander Major General Ronald Villanueva said that the demilitarized weapons does not include standard military weapons where it is demilitarized at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Headquarters. “What we are bout to demilitarized today, have they not been captured, confiscated, surrendered and recovered firearms today could have been still be in the hands of forces that disrupts the order and undermine our peace,”MGen Villanueva said.
He added that the Eastern Mindanao Command have recovered 1,040 firearms in 2018 alone. The 4th Infantry Division operates in Region 10 and Caraga Region which covers eight provinces holds one of the biggest numbers of New People’s Army.
Villanueva said that the NPA rebels radicalized communities and urging them to fight the government. “What we are doing now in our community support program is to really inform our brethren in the communities that there is always lies and deception, agitation , they will be exploited using women and children to protest,” Villanueva said. There could be 700 regular armed rebels in their area of operations, he added.
The NPA, the armed group of the Communist Party of the Philippines have been waging the world’s longest communist guerrilla.-Lance Baconguis/NewsLine.ph
