Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil has ordered an intensified crackdown on private armed groups (PAGs) and unlicensed firearms in order to ensure the safe conduct of the 2025 midterm elections.
According to PNP data, up to 8,628 people were arrested for violating the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition on January 1 to November 30, including 2,033 from Metro Manila, 979 in Central Luzon, and 906 in Central Visayas.
Police added that 3,951 of the firearms were from Central Luzon, 3,023 from Western Visayas, and 2,175 from the National Capital Region.
“By aggressively targeting PAGs and the illegal firearms they use, we are dismantling their capacity for violence and intimidation,” Marbil said.
Every time the elections approach, the PNP goes on crackdowns against PAGs and unlicensed firearms, probably in a bid to limit the guns, goons, and gold that have normally been associated with the polls in this country.
While they have been quite successful in addressing the issue in recent elections, the fact that they have to crack down again every time means that either the private armies are like cockroaches that cannot be eliminated, or the effort of the PNP is not sustained, which allows the threats to regroup. Perhaps it would be better for the country if the cops could focus on neutralizing these dangerous groups even when it is not election season. Instead of stopping after the polls are done, not giving up until PAGs are truly eliminated would also take care of the need to go on crackdowns every 3 years, simply because the job was left previously undone, abandoned as soon as the elections are over.
Will this be another half-baked effort at cracking down on the country’s private armed groups? Or will the PNP brass ever take that perennial problem seriously enough to make sure they don’t have to worry about it anymore when the next election cycle starts?*
