Army deploys more soldiers in checkpoints in Mindanao

MANILA, Philippines - The Army’s 6th Infantry Division has doubled the number of soldiers manning checkpoints in various parts of Mindanao as it prepares for the observance of the Muslims’ holy month of Ramadan.

Col. Prudencio Asto, spokesman of the 6th ID, said field units have been ordered to tighten their checkpoint operations to prevent any untoward incidents.

He said their beefed-up security checkpoint operations took effect yesterday.

“We have to strengthen the defense and double the (number of soldiers) assigned to the checkpoints,” Asto said in a text message.

Asto could not give the exact number of checkpoints but said the number of troops manning each inspection area would be doubled from two to four.

He said checkpoints have been established at the boundaries of Davao, General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Lanao and Marawi City.

Asto said military personnel manning the checkpoints were asked to show courtesy to residents, and to greet and smile at commuters so they would create a good impression.

Asto is hopeful that the public will understand why they are setting up checkpoints.

Ramadan will commence on Aug. 1 and will end on Aug. 30. Malacañang has declared the end of Ramadan or Eid’l Fitr a holiday.

Meanwhile, police and military personnel have been warned not to fire their guns to celebrate the start of Ramadan or face dismissal from the service.

Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said the commanding officers of violators will also be charged administratively based on the principle of “command responsibility.”

For their part, Muslim theologians, among them graduates of the Al-Azzar University in Cairo, Egypt, appealed to the public not to use guns in the revelry, too.

Residents of the ARMM, where possession of firearms is both a status symbol and protection against rival clans, are known to fire guns when they see the new moon at the end of the Islamic month of Shaban, which marks the start of Ramadan. – With John Unson