‘Detector’

“Ginatawag ang igtalupangud sang tanan nga nagahupot sang armas nga nagalupok nga wala sang lisensiya nga inyo ini iga surrender sa pinakamalapit nga police o constabulary headquarters.  Ang indi magpati sang amu nga mandu pagasilutan sang KAMATAYON!”
These radio plugs were repeatedly broadcast in all stations from September – December 1972 when Martial Law was declared.  The plug did not stop at the kamatayon. There followed a presentation of how the military was able to know where rifles, pistols, grenades, and pugakhangs were kept—no matter where you put it.
Against this background was born the urban myth that the military and the police had a modern gun detector capable of finding out where guns are kept.  The detector is said to look like a miniature radar station complete with an odd-looking dish antenna as big as a labador.  All the operator has to do is to focus the antenna towards the direction where the firearm is suspected to be hidden.
The detector works by emitting a signal which bounces back as it reaches the suspected object.  The signal is then processed inside the box where the signals from a firearm can be distinguished from the signal of any other metal object. The signal from the device can penetrate through solid obstructions like concrete, stones, rocks, soils, and coconut leaves. Once identification is made, the detector emits a distinct beeping sound and presto … a suspect is caught!
Many believed this urban fairy tale as true.  The most telling proof of this is the several tons of surrendered firearms then stockpiled at the grounds of what is now Camp Delgado.  The myth, however, just dwelt on the capabilities of the gun detector.  It did not touch on what happened to the BARs, the M2 carbines, and the Thompson submachine guns that were surrendered. The post Marcos joke goes: The tamawo kept the high-powered ones except the pugakhangs.