MANILA – Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation, and Unity (OPAPRU) Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on Friday said the management of loose firearms is needed to ensure a peaceful, orderly, and credible election in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“This program is very crucial, as we gear up for the first parliamentary elections in the BARMM,” he said in a statement.
Galvez was referring to the Assistance for Security, Peace, Integration and Recovery for Advancing Human Security (ASPIRE) Program in BARMM.
Under the program, BARMM residents are urged to exchange unregistered guns and firearms for farming implements and equipment.
The OPAPRU chief also called on those “who are still in possession of illegal firearms, we have the ASPIRE program to convert your guns into plowshares and bullets as seeds of peace.”
Galvez lauded the high number of weapons that were enrolled under the Small Arms Light Weapons (SALW) program and stressed that the “figures can speak for themselves.”
“They are a manifestation of the eagerness, commitment, and trust of the beneficiaries to transform their lives, and by doing so, become peaceful, productive, and empowered members of their communities. They now have the power in their hands to chart a better and brighter future for themselves and their families,” the OPAPRU chief added.
“The gains we have achieved under the ASPIRE project have been made possible through the unwavering focus, dedication, and support of all our stakeholders,” he said.
On Thursday, residents from Sumisip and Hadji Mohammad Ahjul towns in Basilan exchanged unregistered firearms for agricultural tools and equipment in a bid to shy away from the old gun culture in this island province.
In this event, Sumisip residents received a wheel loader, three tractors with disc plow, at least 1,000 free-range chickens, and various farm inputs, while inhabitants of Hadji Mohammad Ahjul town were provided with solar-powered ice block machines to ensure the freshness of their produce, a mini delivery cargo van, a tractor with disc plow, 500 free-range chickens, and various farm inputs.
These farm inputs and equipment were turned over after residents in the island province of Basilan turned in at least 771 firearms and stenciled 556 weapons in the SALW through ASPIRE Program launched last year.
The ASPIRE is funded by the Japanese government and facilitated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This program is under the Joint Normalization Committee (JNC) between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which aims to reduce the loose firearms in the Bangsamoro Region.
The ASPIRE Program, which targets the registration and stenciling of loose firearms in the identified areas, provides socio-economic interventions in these communities.
The JNC, through the OPAPRU, launched the SALW program initially in the provinces of Maguindanao del Norte, and the island provinces of Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, with Basilan being the model province among the three.
This effort is part of the implementation of the Normalization Track of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro. (PNA)