The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has deputized policemen for its anti-insurgency operations, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) reported on Friday.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno said that this was reached during talks with Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro to have the AFP and Philippine National Police (PNP) join forces in implementing the law to bring to justice the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leaders responsible for the attacks on civilian population in Mindanao.

With this, Puno said, the AFP has deputized the PNP to assist in its anti-insurgency operations.

Under the set-up, he explained, that police would be able to help the military in arresting suspected rebels and other criminal elements.

Without the police, Puno pointed out, the military would only be exposed to charges of illegal arrest or human rights violation.

However, Puno said that under the law the PNP can legally conduct arrests under certain conditions as long as those apprehended are not detained longer than 36 hours.

The secretary said the measure is part of the enforcement component of the government’s three-pronged holistic approach in tackling insurgency and other peace and order problems all over the country. The other two components are negotiation and rehabilitation.

Puno said the approach basically defines the “civilianization” of the insurgency problem as the PNP is given a more active role in the internal security operations (ISO) as directed by President Arroyo under Executive Order 546.

The secretary , who chairs the National Police Commission (Napolcom), said this “civilianization approach” was first applied by the DILG and Department of National Defense under the leadership of Teodoro during the spate of attacks perpetrated by renegade leaders of the MILF in nine barangays in North Cotabato, certain parts of Lanao del Norte and other conflict areas in the South in August last year.

As for the negotiation component of this approach, Puno explained that a task group was created in the MILF attacks in North Cotabato and Lanao del Norte to open communication lines with the insurgents and find ways of peacefully ending the fighting between the two sides.