President Arroyo on Friday ordered the formation of a commission that would review and oversee the immediate dismantling of all private armies particularly in election hotspots in the country.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said the President decided to focus on the intensified crackdown on private armed groups rather than simply assign a special body to investigate the Maguindanao massacre as announced early in the day.

The new commission, which will be headed by a retired Supreme Court justice, was part of the President’s resolve to ensure peace and orderly elections in 2010, according to Remonde.

“We are happy to announce one of the decisions arrived at during National Security Council was the creation of a commission to dismantle private armed groups especially which are related to political clans,” he told reporters after the three-hour security meeting convened by the President in Malacañang.

He said the commission would be given “broad powers” to supervise the dismantling of private armed groups, including a review of the civilian volunteer organizations that are given firearms to augment the country’s security forces.

“This is just to give more focus and emphasis and to put more teeth and impetus behind the campaign and put additional resources including the necessary support to the campaign,” Remonde said.

Apart from its law enforcement functions, Remonde said the new body would also look into the “political, cultural and historical dimension” of private armies that have been often blamed for the spate of violence during elections.

Prior to the NSC meeting, Remonde told reporters the President was studying the creation of a special body that would investigate the November 23 killings in Maguindanao amid calls from various groups for an independent probe into the incident.

“It was a consensus during the meeting that it will not just focus on Maguindanao massacre but to the overall phenomenon of private armed groups that are political clan dominated,” Remonde said after the NSC meeting. The composition of the group, the scope of its powers, and its timeline would be disclosed at the appropriate time.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, in the same news conference in the Palace, said the creation of the commission was also meant to ensure “transparency” amid an existing police program dealing with the same concern.

“With the creation of a commission, it will involve now objective personnel who can view the work of institutions of government and see whether the correct work is being done, if the work is sufficient, and the actions being taken are appropriate,” Puno said.

Philippine National Police chief Gen. Jesus Verzosa also welcomed the formation of the new commission following allegations some paramilitary groups, civilian volunteers, and policemen are involved in the Maguindanao massacre. “We have to look at how these private armed groups are formed by different political clans,” he said.

Verzosa said the initial areas listed under tight watch due to election-related violence in the past are Masbate, Nueva Ecija, Abra, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu, and Samar.

At the NSC meeting, the President also asked authorities to conduct an internal investigation within the Armed Forces following the discovery of large stockpile of firearms outside the home of the Ampatuan political clan. Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. is currently facing murder charges in connection with the Maguindanao massacre.