Philippine police yesterday warned political warlords to turn in unlicensed firearms ahead of next May’s presidential vote to prevent bloodshed among rival candidates.
National police chief Director-General Jesus Versoza said there were an estimated 1.11 million unlicensed guns in the hands of civilians, private armies and Muslim and communist insurgents.
This is on top of the estimated 1.8 million firearms in the hands of the police, military and licensed security agencies, he said.
The capital Manila and nearby provinces, as well the southern island of Mindanao account for more than half the illegal weapons, Versoza said citing official statistics.
He said civilians would have until the end of October to register their guns, while police operations would continue against known private armies and crime groups with firearms.
The total includes a “conservative estimate” of nearly 16,000 high-powered weapons in rebel hands, Versoza said.
“The presence of loose firearms in the country contributes to our problems with peace and order,” Versoza told reporters. “Now that the elections are coming, we are [carrying out] programs and activities to control these firearms.”
The Philippines goes to the polls in May to choose a president, half of the 24-seat Senate, more than 250 congressmen and thousands of local officials from village councilors and mayors to provincial governors.
Versoza said the police had come up with a list of politicians known to control private armies and would deploy forces to traditional hot spots.
In the 2007 congressional elections, there were about 229 violent incidents reported, most of which involved the use of illegal firearms, Versoza said without giving comparative figures.
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