Joint task force formed to curb Abra private armies

By Dexter A. See

BANGUED, Abra – A joint coordinating task force was created to put an end to private armies in the province and stop the culture of violence and fear allegedly perpetrated by power-hungry individuals mostly politicians.

The Joint Coordinating Center Against Private Armed Groups (PAGS) in the province is headed by Senior Supt. Elmer Soria, deputy regional director for operations of the Police Regional Office in the Cordillera, and will be composed of representatives from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Abra multi-sectoral group, media, Abra Ministerial Association, Diocese of Bangued and other civic organizations.

The task force is empowered to monitor activities of politicians who maintain private armies that contribute to violence in the province.

The group will also closely monitor gains of police and military in the confiscation of illegal firearms kept by politicians and their armed supporters.

Despite the commitment of newly elected provincial and municipal officials to peace and denounce violence, intelligence reports showed there are still some politicians who maintain private armies to ensure their reign.

To circumvent the current policy against private armies, some local officials hire individuals as contractual or casual employees in the different branches of the local government and assign them specific duties and responsibilities aside from acting as their security escorts, armed with alleged unlicensed firearms.

The task force is expected to hold periodic meetings and submit reports to concerned law enforcement agencies in order for higher authorities to craft appropriate measures to counter the proliferation of private armies.

For the past years, crimes committed in the province have significantly declined because of intervention by concerned government agencies and law enforcers which slightly drove away hardened criminals from seeking protection from politicians who want to commission them as security escorts.

Abra has been tagged killing fields of the North because of the numerous killings of innocent individuals, some of them were politicians who were assassinated by their rivals.