Villagers surrender 48 more combat weapons to Army’s 6th Infantry Division

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

May 17, 2026 | 1:16pm

COTABATO CITY — The military has taken custody of 48 more combat weapons surrendered on Thursday, May 14, by residents of South Upi town in Maguindanao del Sur in support of a regional disarmament program complementing the government’s Southern Mindanao peace process.

Major General Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told reporters on Saturday, May 16, that the cache is now in the joint custody of 57th Infantry Battalion and the 603rd Infantry Brigade.

Cagara said the commander of the 57th IB, Colonel Aeron Gumabao, his immediate superior, Brig. Gen. Michael Santos of the 603rd Infantry Brigade and South Upi Mayor Helen Padua jointly secured, through dialogues, the surrender of the assault rifles, pistols, grenade launchers and long-range bolt action rifles by their owners as part of the implementation of the Small Arms and Light Weapons  Management Program of the 6th ID and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Reconciliation and Unity in the municipality.

Residents of South Upi have, since last year, turned over more than a hundred unlicensed firearms to officials of the 57th IB, the 603rd Infantry Brigade and their local government unit as a gesture of support for the SALW Management Program.

The 6th ID and OPAPRU have been jointly implementing the SALW Management Program since July 2024 in areas being secured by units of the division to support Malacañang's disarmament agenda under its peace initiatives with Moro communities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and nearby administrative regions.

Cagara and the commander of the Western Mindanao Command, Lt. Gen. Donald Gumiran, separately told reporters on Saturday that they are grateful to Padua, a first-term mayor of South Upi and her constituent-leaders for helping push forward the SALW Management Program in barangays in municipality.

"This regional disarmament program will not succeed if not for the efforts of the local government units in areas under the Army divisions and other military units that are under the command and control of the Western Mindanao Command," Gumiran said. 

A senior OPAPRU official, David Diciano, and Col. Michael John Mangahis, director of the Maguindanao del Sur provincial police, attended Thursday’s symbolic surrender combat weapons by villagers in Barangay Romongaob in South Upi. The event was jointly officiated by Padua, Gumabao and Santos.

Diciano oversees OPAPRU’s Bangsamoro Transformation Cluster, which implements programs complementing the peace and security initiatives of Malacañang and the BARMM government.

Units of the 6th ID in Central Mindanao’s Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato and Sarangani provinces have collected 3,011 grenade launchers, M16, M14, M1 Garand and Carbine rifles, 81 millimeter and 60 mm mortars, B40 rocket launchers, M60, .50 and .30 caliber machineguns and pistols since the division and OPAPRU launched the SALW Management Program in July 2024.