800 firearms ‘surrendered’ in Basilan, residents get livelihood aid
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 19 October) – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has stepped up the campaign against loose firearms in Basilan province with the cooperation of local government units (LGUs), resulting to the surrender of about 800 weapons since last year, officials said.
Lieutenant General William Gonzales, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom)chief, said “the surrender and registration of small arms and light weapons (SALW) will help stabilize security in the region.”
The military’s campaign against unlicensed weapons in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) was boosted with the launching in Basilan last year of the Assistance for Security, Peace, Integration and Recovery for Advancing Human Security (ASPIRE).
The ASPIRE program, funded by the Japanese government and facilitated by the United Nations Development Programme, is implemented by the Joint Normalization Committee (JNC) of the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The program, which targets the registration and stenciling of loose firearms, provides socio-economic interventions and is part of the implementation of the normalization track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, the peace deal signed by the government and the MILF in 2014 after 17 years of negotiations.
The JNC, through the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU), also implements ASPIRE in the provinces of Maguindanao del Norte and Tawi-Tawi.
“We recognize that arms reduction, demobilization, and reintegration to communities of former rebels are crucial in managing SALW and preventing conflict,” Gonzales was quoted by OPAPRU as saying.
Last Thursday, October 17, residents in the towns of Sumisip and Hadji Mohammad Ahjul in Basilan received at least four tractors with disc ploughs, a wheel loader, solar-powered ice block machines, a mini delivery cargo vans and other farm inputs in exchange for the loose firearms they yielded.
These farm inputs and equipment were turned over after residents turned in at least 771 firearms since ASPIRE was launched last year, OPAPRU data showed.
Sumisip Mayor Jul-adnan Hataman said his town and the entire island-province of Basilan “are gradually stripping their old image as a hotbed of lawlessness to a province that is resilient to positive change.”
In the past decades, Basilan was notoriously known as a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf Group, which the United States classified as a foreign terrorist organization.
“In the past, Basilan has been defined by stories of conflict. But today, the narrative is shifting. With a project like ASPIRE, we are slowly rewriting our story – a story where peace is the foundation, and development is the path forward,” he shared.
“The equipment we have received represent more than just tools for farming – they are investments in the future of the people of Basilan. We are entrusted with these resources, not just for economic growth, but to strengthen our communities, build peace, and create a prosperous future for all,” Hataman emphasized.
Mayor Talib Pawaki of Hadji Mohammad Ahjul town said the ASPIRE project seeks “to eradicate the loose firearms in our town, and give chances to those who want to change their lives.”
Basilan Governor Hajiman Hataman-Salliman, assured the programs and interventions to help the island province will be maximized to their fullest.
“I just would like to reiterate our commitment to Japan and the national government that we will do everything that we can do to complement [the ASPIRE project],” he said.
Hataman-Salliman noted that Sumisip has experienced a “fair share” of violence, while the coastal town of Hadji Mohammad Ahjul was even “tagged as the Somalia of the Philippines” due to the spate of hijacking and kidnapping incidents on international vessels passing through its seas several years ago.
The governor said “these municipalities are now enjoying favorable peace and order conditions with no cases of kidnappings and violence recorded in recent years.”
Brigadier General Alvin V. Luzon, commander of the 101st Infantry “Three Red Arrows” Brigade based in Basilan, said addressing the problem on unlicensed firearms “has reduced the number of violence in the island-province by about 78%.”
Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez, Jr. said “the management of loose firearms is needed to ensure a peaceful, orderly, and credible election” in the BARMM in May 2025.
“This program is very crucial, as we gear up for the first parliamentary elections in the BARMM,” he said.
He called on the owners of loose firearms to surrender them, saying “we have the ASPIRE program to convert your guns into plowshares and bullets as seeds of peace.” (Richel V. Umel / MindaNews)
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