Comelec exempts militia from gun ban

MANILA – The Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) has approved a resolution exempting the country’s militia or paramilitary units from the total gun ban, according to a ranking Comelec official.

Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle explained militiamen belonging to the Civilian Active Auxiliaries (CAA) and the Special Civilian Active Auxiliaries are considered units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and are, thus, exempt from the ban which took effect Sunday and will last until June 9.

The decision immediately drew widespread denunciation and protests from concerned sectors, saying this would allow the country’s political warlords to use their militia to sow terror in the coming May elections.

Among others, the protesters cited as an example the alleged use by the influential Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao of their militia, known as the Civilian Volunteers Organization, in the massacre of 57 people on November 23 and to maintain their full control of the province for more than nine years.

They stressed that the Ampatuans and other warlords have made militiamen as their own “private armies” under the guise of operating as units of the military.

However, Tagle, the chairman of the Comelec Committee on the Ban of Firearms and Security Personnel, pointed out that members of the CAA and the SCAA are considered part of the military based on an official report of the AFP.

“It’s now up to the military to police their ranks,” said Tagle who also authored a controversial resolution rejecting the petition of a group of gays and transsexuals to field candidates in the May polls.

But the Supreme Court (SC) issued a temporary restraining order against the resolution and allowed “Ang Ladlad” (“to bare,” in Filipino) as an accredited party-list group and include its name on the ballot.

Earlier, ranking military officers raised concern that members of the CAA and the SCAA would not be allowed to carry firearms under the gun ban which is being implemented with the establishment of 3,500 police checkpoints nationwide.

They explained the CAA operates alongside government forces while private business and local government units tap the SCAA to secure their areas.

For instance, Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, the head of the naval forces in Mindanao, pointed out that hundreds of SCAA members have been hired by fishing companies to secure and protect their business ventures on the strife-torn island.

For his part, Lieutenant General Benjamin Dolorfino, the chief of the Western Mindanao Command, emphasized that members of the SCAA and the CAA are part of the military organization.

In particular, Dolorfino said most of the SCAA members are being used as security forces of private companies operating in remote areas.

He also warned that he would recommend to the Comelec the immediate disqualification of local government officials running in the May elections if they are found to be using miltiamen to promote their political ambitions.

Dolorfino did not elaborate, but he was apparently referring to the Ampatuans, headed by their patriarch former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan, who allegedly converted the militia into their own “private army” to consolidate their hold on the province.

Aside from multiple charges filed against members of the clan due to the massacre, the government also accused them of rebellion by using their militia and other armed followers to take up arms against the Arroyo administration.

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