The Philippine Army is set to demilitarize hundreds of firearms recovered during the operations against the Maute-Abu Sayyaf Group in Marawi.

Lt. Col. Ray Tiongson, public affairs officer of the Philippine Army, said the demilitarization will be done in a ceremony at the Philippine Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio Wednesday.

Tiongson said more than 400 among captured, confiscated, recovered and surrendered firearms will be “overrun by a road roller vehicle, then the metal will be cut by metal bound circular saw.”

Tiongson said the firearms that will be destroyed include machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and sniper rifles.

“Then later on, it will be burned. There are procedures for disposal because the armed forces has direct policies or directives on how to dispose these (firearms), so tomorrow in a ceremonial demilitarization ceremony that will be done,” he said.

Col. Romeo Brawner, deputy commander of Joint Task Force Ranao, said based on their latest data the military has recovered more than 800 firearms during the operation in Marawi City.

Brawner said recovery of war materials in Marawi is still ongoing as the military has not finished its clearing operations. Robina Asido/DMS