Private armies buying paltik guns

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The military is monitoring different political groups that are said to be acquiring several paltik or homemade firearms for their private armies during the election period, officials here said yesterday.

The military issued the alert following reports that these homemade firearms are selling briskly in Cebu and parts of Mindanao.

"The reports indicated that most of those who are acquiring these paltik firearms are those who are maintaining private armies," Maj. Eugene Batara, spokesman for the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command, said.

He said most of the warlords are acquiring their firearms from Cebu and these are being shipped clandestinely to Mindanao.

An informant from Cebu said a homemade caliber .45 pistol classified as class A costs around P10,000, while a class B version sells for about P7,000 to P8,000. A paltik M-16 Armalite costs P15,000 to P16,000.

A genuine caliber .45 pistol costs over P25,000 or more, depending on its class and model, while the M-16 sells for about P40,000 to P50,000 in a licensed gun store.

Military checkpoints have been set up to block any attempts to ship paltik firearms. — Roel Pareño