Militia members controlled by the Mangudadatu clan in Buluan town, Maguindanao province on Wednesday voluntarily surrendered their firearms to the authorities.
Police said a total of 71 Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO) members were presented by the Mangudadatu clan to officials of the military and the police.
A joint statement by the military and the police said the CVO members turned over at least 45 registered and loose firearms.
Members of the Mangudadatu clan, meanwhile, asked the Philippine National Police to deploy more policemen in the town due to fears of reprisal from armed men loyal to their rival clan, the Ampatuans.
“While we have been taking positive steps toward the complete disarming of Maguindanao by uncovering numerous arms cache in Shariff Aguak, what we are witnessing today is a giant leap to peace,” the military and the police said in the joint statement.
Shariff Aguak, the capital town of Maguindanao, is the main stronghold of the Ampatuan clan.
The statement added: “A giant leap considering that the people of Buluan have decided on their own that the way to genuine peace is disarmament.”
The police and the military, meanwhile, called on other local officials and residents to follow the lead of the Mangudadatus for the complete disarmament of the province.
Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, who is running for governor in 2010, lost his wife and two sisters in the infamous Maguindanao massacre last November 23.
Mangudadatu’s wife and two sisters, accompanied by supporters and journalists, were on their way to Shariff Aguak to file a certificate of candidacy for governor on his behalf when they were abducted and massacred in Ampatuan town.
The massacre and the alleged massing of private armies identified with the Mangudadatu clan prompted President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to impose martial in some parts of the province.
Former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., his sons and other members of his family have been arrested for alleged rebellion.
His other son, Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., who allegedly led the massacre, has been charged with 25 counts of murder and detained in Manila.
Ampatuan Jr. was supposedly being groomed by his family to become the province’s governor.
Reports from Jorge Cariño, ABS-CBN News and Noel Alamar, radio dzMM
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