COTABATO CITY — Residents of interior barangays in Aleosan town in Cotabato province surrendered 16 firearms, rocket and grenade launchers to the Army’s 34th Infantry Battalion on Tuesday, November 26.
Major Gen. Antonio Nafarrette, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and concurrent acting Western Mindanao Command chief, said on Friday, November 29, that the combat weapons were turned in by owners through the intercession of officials of the 34th IB and the commander of the 602nd Infantry Brigade, Brig. Gen. Donald Gumiran.
Gumiran and the commander of the 34th IB, Lt. Col. Edgardo Batinay, separately told reporters that barangay officials, Aleosan Mayor Edgardo Cabaya and Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño Mendoza, who is chairperson of the Regional Development Council 12, helped them secure the surrender of the unlicensed firearms, rocket and grenade launchers through backchannel dialogues with owners.
“Those weapons were surrendered by owners in support of our Small Arms and Light Weapons Program,” Nafarrete said.
The cache consists of assault rifles, anti-tank and M79 grenade launchers, shotguns, a bolt-action .50 caliber sniper rifle, a .38 revolver and a .45 caliber pistol.
The SALW Program is being implemented in all provinces and cities covered by the 6th ID in support of the disarmament agenda of the government’s Mindanao peace process.
Units of 6th ID had, since 2022, collected more than 2,000 combat rifles, M60 machineguns, 81 and 60-millimeter mortars, B-40 rocket and M79 grenades launchers that were surrendered by owners residing in different towns and provinces in Central Mindanao.