Manila: Almost 700 guns were seized and their owners arrested after authorities established last week a 150-day ban on the carrying of firearms outside of homes ahead of the May elections in a country where clans fuel political rivalries with guns, private armies, and criminal gangs,
Army troops and policemen at checkpoints and bus stations in 800 towns in 15 provinces nationwide seized 696 guns, up from 557 last week, said the Philippines National Police in a report submitted at the suburban headquarters in Quezon City.
Authorities also seized 3,787 rounds of ammunition; 4,039 pointed knives (up by 1,000 from last week); 18 fake guns; 205 fan knives; 22 grenades; and seven explosives, the report said, adding that those arrested included 664 civilians, five policemen, eight government officials, 12 security guards, including five from government-attached security agencies; and two from a pro-government paramilitary group.
“Violators could be jailed up to six years. Owners of 25,000 registered firearms nationwide were ordered to renew expired licenses,” PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Wilben Mayor told Gulf News.
“Blamed for the perennial elections related violence are almost 70 private militias, 50 criminal groups that offer services to political families during elections, and more than half a million unlicensed firearms nationwide,” said Mayor.
The numbers of groups and unlicensed firearms were underplayed, other sources said.
Exempted from the gun-ban were top officials, on-duty troops and police, and groups in areas with insurgency threats.
Some 160,000 policemen were also deployed nationwide at the start of the 90-day campaign period for national candidates on February 9. “It is now safe for candidates to move around especially in identified hotspots,” attested Mayor.
Authorities perennially use election period to scale down groups used to fuel political rivalries among established and growing political clans, analysts said, adding the problem of loose firearms in the Philippines is “not wilfully solved”.
Groups have called for a total and permanent ban on guns, while others have called for stricter gun control.
Outgoing President Benigno Aquino, a known gun-lover, has preferred better gun control.
About 58 people, including 32 media workers were killed by more than 100 gunmen of a Filipino-Muslim political family that was a political rival of another powerful Filipino-Muslim clan in southern Maguindanao in late 2009, ahead of the 2010 polls. The south, home to an estimated 5 million Filipino-Muslims, is one of the country’s election hotspots.
On May 9, 54.3 million registered Filipino voters will elect their president, vice president, more than 300 lawmakers of Congress, and 18,000 local government officials such as governor, mayor, provincial board member and city and municipal councillors.
