Duterte's wish to arm civilians meant to counter Reds, says Año

President Rodrigo Duterte's wish for civilian groups to arm themselves was meant to counter communist insurgents, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said on Wednesday.

At a press conference, Año said Duterte in a meeting on Monday clarified his statement encouraging the volunteers to arm themselves to protect themselves from threats.

“He said was referring to the areas under the influence of CPP-NPA when after those barangays were incurred by the government forces,” Año said.

“There is a necessity for the civilians, particularly barangay officials, to defend the villages and the barangays,” he added.

Año said these barangay officials can be accommodated as Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit or Special CAFGU Active Auxiliary (SCAA).

On Friday, the Philippine National Police launched the Global Coalition of Lingkod Bayan Advocacy Support Groups and Force Multipliers with Duterte as the keynote speaker.

The coalition is composed of civilian organizations which will serve as the police’s partner in its fight against crime and police community relations programs.

In his speech during the event, Duterte called for arming civilian groups to help the police in crime fighting even as he said that authorities should not kill suspects who already surrendered.

“If you have this coalition, you have a list of people who are there who can arm themselves. I will order the police if you are qualified, get a gun, and help us enforce the laws,” Duterte said.

“Don't simply make an arrest tapos wala kang...ikaw ang mamatay (and then you do not have a gun…you will be dead). You are not supposed to die. A criminal is supposed to die,” Duterte added.

The CHR said "the Philippine National Police (PNP) is more than enough," and cited the provision in the 1987 Constitution that the government shall only maintain one national police force.

It pointed out that "arming civilians without proper training, qualification, and clear lines of accountabilities may lead to lawlessness and proliferation of arms that may further negatively impact on human rights situation in the country.

On Monday, PNP chief Police General Guillermo Eleazar clarified that anti-crime volunteers are not employed as law enforcers and are still considered as regular civilians.

“Magbibigay lang po ng impormasyon. Unang-una, hindi po ito employed law enforcers. Gusto po natin linawin. Siguro nami-misinterpret lang dahil nabanggit na puwede silang magkaroon ng baril’ he said.

(They will only give information. First of all, they are not employed as law enforcers. We want to clarify that. Perhaps it is being misinterpreted just because it was mentioned that they can have guns.)

Eleazar pointed out that civilians are allowed to apply for a license to possess a gun as long as they are qualified based on the law. —NB, GMA News