2 Lieutenant Alexelle Joyce Quijano, 60th IB Civil-Military Operations Officer said
a total of 11 high-powered firearms have been recovered by their troops on Saturday, March 12.
The troops recovered two M16 rifles, one AK 47 rifle, and a lower receiver of an M203 grenade launcher at Sitio Bagtok, Barangay Gupitan, Kapalong, Davao del Norte.
Another arms cache of two M16 rifles and an M653 rifle were discovered on the same day under the same unit at Sitio Tagbalili, Barangay San Vicente, Loreto, Agusan del Sur.
Also at Sitio Bubujawon, Barangay Waloe, Loreto, Agusan del Sur, the soldiers were also able to discover 2 M16 rifles.
According to Quijano, majority of these cached firearms were owned by the former NPA rebels who belong to the remnants of the dismantled fronts of Southern Mindanao Regional Command (SMRC) in 2020.
Lt. Colonel Merrill Sumalinog, acting commander of 60th IB said this accomplishment is a result of the efforts of various stakeholders and the Local Government Units (LGUs) in ensuring that all basic services are delivered to far-flung communities which prevent further insulation from communist-terrorist groups.
Sumalinog encouraged all the troops to continue supporting the different LGUs in their peace initiatives and the implementation of the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (ECLIP) to encourage other NPA members to return to the folds of the law.
The recovered firearms have been turned over to the Philippine National Police (PNP) for proper disposition and will be later on enrolled to ECLIP for renumeration.
Photos: 60th IB