Southern Tagalog has the most number of partisan armed groups (PAGs) that could undermine
the conduct of peaceful mid-term elections next year, a police official said on Monday.

The region, comprising Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces, has surpassed the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in the number of armed groups.

Chief Supt. Ricardo Marquez, Philippine National Police (PNP) deputy operations director, said that there are at least 65 known PAGs reportedly operating in the country—a huge number of them can be found in Southern Tagalog Region.

“Of the 65 PAGs that have been monitored . . . 15 of them were from the Southern Tagalog area mostly in Cavite,” Marquez told reporters during Monday’s media forum in Camp Crame.

These groups, according to the police official, will be among the priority target for operations by the PNP to ensure a peaceful and safe mid-term local and national elections next year.

Meanwhile, in Imus City, Cavite, 85 various types of high-powered firearms were voluntarily surrendered by several politicians and gun owners to the police for safekeeping purposes.

The surrendering of firearms came also on the day that PNP has started its “Oplan Katok,” which aims to account for more that half a million un-renewed and loose firearms in the country.

Director Lina Sarmiento, Police community relations chief, said that the surrendered firearms will be placed under the safekeeping of the Cavite Provincial Police Office where a number of PAGs have been monitored.

Of the surrendered firearms, 25 of them are rifles and 60 handguns, the police official said.

On his part, Senior Supt. Alexander Rafael, Cavite provincial office director, there are some 7,783 pieces of unregistered or loose firearms in the province.