DILG chief eyes intensified crackdown vs. private armies

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos on Wednesday said the government is eyeing to disband more private armed groups (PAGs) in the country.

The government’s program on the disbandment of PAGs is being carried out through the security component of the normalization track under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2014.

“Itong DPAGS natin dito ngayon ay concentrated sa Mindanao because of the peace process that is why kami ni Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez kinausap namin ang mahal na Pangulo na baka pwedeng i-expand natin ito in areas to be determined na prevalent ang mga areas na ito sa presence ng mga DPAGS as determined by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP),” Abalos said.

(Our DPAGS here today are concentrated in Mindanao because of the peace process that is why Galvez and I talked to the President that maybe we can expand it in areas to be determined that these areas are prevalent in presence of DPAGS as determined by the PNP and AFP.)

“There should be a mechanism, hindi naman lahat buong Pilipinas, pero idedetermine lang dahil once you do that ang ganda ng epekto. Nakita naman dito eh,” he added.

(There should be a mechanism, not the entire Philippines. The areas will be determined because once you do that, the effect is good. It was seen here.)

The National Task Force for the Disbandment of Private Armed Groups has dismantled at least six private armed groups in Western Mindanao, based on the task force’s latest data.

Last December 2021, the national task force disbanded 14 groups operating in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Region 12.—LDF, GMA Integrated News