COTABATO CITY (August 24) — On Thursday, August 21, residents of remote towns in Cotabato, which were previously the site of fatal conflicts between state security forces and Moro secessionist rebels, turned over 22 additional rifles and big homemade bombs to the Army.
The Army’s 34th Infantry Battalion is currently in possession of the cache, which includes M16 and M14 assault rifles, long-range bolt-action sniper rifles, a 60-millimeter mortar, handguns, and a dozen improvised explosive devices (IEDs) equipped with blasting mechanisms that can be remotely detonated using mobile phones.
In Barangay Salunayan, Midsayap, local officials from three recently established Bangsamoro towns in Cotabato, Pahamuddin, Nabalawag, and Kadayangan, handed over the combat weapons and IEDs to the 34th IB during a straightforward ceremony. Regional police office personnel from Region 12 and Bangsamoro region watched the transition.
On Friday, August 22, Maj. Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told reporters that the villagers readily turned over the firearms, mortar, and IEDs through the help of their mayors, the 34th IB officials, led by Lt. Col. Edgardo Batinay, and their immediate superior, Brig. Gen. Ricky Bunayog, commander of the 602nd Infantry Brigade.
The Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Program of the 6th ID and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity is being implemented by the mayors of the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area in Cotabato, as well as by Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, Bunayog, and Gumiran.
The normalization strategy of Malacañang’s peace initiatives with the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is complemented by the SALW Program, which is part of the 6th ID and spans all six provinces and four cities in Central Mindanao.
Both fronts, which have separate peace deals with the national government, maintain enclaves in Central Mindanao that the police and military have designated as “peace zones.”
Gumiran thanked Mendoza, chairman of Regional Development Council 12, and her constituent-mayors in Cotabato for their strong backing in implementing the SALW Program in their respective barangays.
Mendoza, Cotabato mayors, and officials of the 602nd Infantry Brigade have assisted in 811 firearms, including assault rifles, M60,.30, and.50 caliber machine guns, 40-millimeter grenade launchers, and B40 anti-tank rocket launchers, surrender since the program began in Central Mindanao in 2024.
