PNP targets 29 private armies of Luzon politicians

MANILA, Philippines - The Directorate for Integrated Police Office (DIPO) Northern Luzon of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is targeting the disarming and dismantling of at least 29 private armies of politicians in its jurisdiction.

Director Roberto Rosales, head of DIPO Northern Luzon, said majority of the members of these private armies act as bodyguards of politicians and are also involved in criminal activities like gun-for-hire.

Rosales said they are now closely monitoring the activities of these private armies to determine if they have lay low or not after the May 10 elections.

Rosales said the number of private armies in his jurisdiction was arrived at following validation by the PNP Directorate for Intelligence (DI) before the May polls.

He said the dismantling of four private armies in Abra would be their top priority because of the “peculiarity’ of the situation in the country’s third poorest province.

“The province is a mountainous area so the so-called private armies could move freely,” he said.

Rosales said Chief Superintendent Villamor Bumanlag, Cordillera police director, has coordinated with Maj. Gen. Rommel Gomez of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division for a combined effort against these private armies.

Once the Abra campaign succeeds, Rosales said this would be replicated in other provinces in northern Luzon.

“Gen. Bumanlag has already formed a dedicated force to deal with the four private armies in Abra. I expect him to deal with the problem in 60 days,” he added.

Rosales is scheduling a meeting with Gomez to assign to him a number of private armies to disarm and dismantle by his men.

DI records show that of the 29 private armies, six are in Pangasinan, three in La Union, one each in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, four in Cagayan, two in Isabela, and two in Nueva Ecija, apart from the four in Abra.