AFP to go after private armed groups after holiday

MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will go after identified private armed groups in the country next week since they are currently focused on security concerns for All Saints’ Day.

“As per arrangement, the PNP is involved in this,” AFP chief Gen. Ricardo David said of the military’s plan of action against known private armed groups after the All Saints’ Day holiday.

The military is still on red alert not only because of All Saints’ and All Souls’ days, but also because of the absence of President Aquino who is still out of the country attending a conference in Vietnam.

David said the focus of the combined police and military campaign against private armies would be the provinces of Maguindanao, Masbate and Abra.

“Our next concern would be to disband these private armed groups in coordination with our police counterparts,” David said.

Police records showed that there are still more or less 70 such groups operating in the country, most of them under the employ of criminal syndicates if not for political warlords in Maguindanao, Abra and Masbate.

“These would be our immediate concerns after All Saints’ Day,” David said.

AFP spokesman and chief of the AFP Civil Relations Service (CRS) Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta, on the other hand, gave assurance that the military and the police will ensure public safety as the entire nation remembers and honors its dead.