No private army in W. Visayas but PNP monitors possible regrouping

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Guns, gold, and goons are said to be the traditional formula in winning an electoral seat.

And while the police could not do anything about the gold part, they could sure act on guns and goons.

On Thursday, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar ordered all police offices and units nationwide to intensify operations against private armed groups and loose firearms ahead of the election season.

Based on National Task Force on the Disbandment of PAGs (NTF-DPAGs) accounts, there are 130 armed groups being monitored by authorities in Mindanao alone.

In Western Visayas, the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) said it has not monitored any active private armed groups (PAGs), as of now.

However, “there are some former PAG members who have the potential to regroup,” Lieutenant Colonel Joem Malong, PRO-6 spokesperson, said.

She added that these groups and individuals are being monitored closely by the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) because “they can be hired by politicians come election period.”

Even during the 2019 elections, Malong said they already dismantled the remaining identified PAGs.

Meanwhile, PRO-6 has continued and further intensified its campaign against loose firearms.

Through its initiative Kontra Boga (locally known as TKAL), PRO-6 has set to account/address proliferation of loose firearms being evaluated on a weekly basis.

From January to June 2021, PRO-6 said some 1,340 firearms were surrendered and deposited to the different police units all over the region.

On the other hand, 287 were either confiscated or recovered during police operations.

On accounting of firearm owners with expired licenses, 30,432 firearms of the 42,265 baseline data were already accounted.