Residents of Tawi-Tawi town turn over 8 unlicensed guns

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Residents of Sitangkai island town in Tawi-Tawi turned over to the military eight more unlicensed firearms over the weekend.

The eight firearms — two .45 caliber pistols, a .30 caliber Carbine rifle, three .30 caliber Garand rifles, a Belgian 7.62 FN assault rifle and a 9 millimeter pistol — were turned in by residents of Barangay Sipangkot in Sitangkai after talks with local officials and the 12th Marine Battalion.

Local government units in Tawi-Tawi, covering 11 municipalities, yielded to military units in the province more than 70 assorted firearms surrendered by constituents in the past 12 months.

Army Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said Sunday he is grateful to the Marines and the local government of Sitangkai for initiating the collection of the loose firearms in support of the government’s disarmament campaign in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“The WestMinCom is thankful to all helping us achieve that goal, particularly the Tawi-Tawi provincial police and the local officials in the province,” Vinluan said.