Mindanao Peace Process

COTABATO CITY --- Four more members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, two of them henchmen of the long wanted Kagui Karialan, surrendered Wednesday.

They yielded through the efforts of the Army’s 92^nd Infantry Battalion and local leaders in Datu Hoffer Ampatuan town in Maguindanao.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, said Thursday the four men, Ustadz, Magdusa, Kano and Abu Zubair, shall be reintroduced into mainstream society with the help of different line agencies and the Bangsamoro regional government.

COTABATO CITY --- Another bloc of local terrorists surrendered in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao Friday, two days after the arrest of a Dawlah Islamiya leader while on his way to South Cotabato province.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division said Saturday Commander Mulawin and his 10 followers yielded through the efforts of the Army’s 33^rd Infantry Battalion and the 1^st Mechanized Infantry Brigade.

TACURONG CITY --- Former members of a terror-group tagged in deadly bombings in central Mindanao finished Friday a livelihood workshop as initial step towards their reintegration into the local communities.

Brig. Gen. Roy Galido, commander of the Army’s 601^st Infantry Brigade based in Barangay Kalandagan here, said the entrepreneurship development training was facilitated by the Bangsamoro local government ministry.

Galido said 26 now reforming erstwhile members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters benefitted from the three-day activity.

LANAO DEL SUR --- The police and military collected Tuesday 28 unlicensed firearms surrendered by residents of Wao town through the intercession of local officials.

The cache, 21 shotguns, four .38 caliber revolvers, a .22 caliber revolver, a super .38 caliber pistol, and a 9 millimeter Uzi machine pistol, were turned over by Mayor Elvino Balicao, Jr. to officials of the Army’s 602^nd Infantry Brigade and the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police during simple rite Tuesday in the town proper of Wao, Lanao del Sur.

TACURONG CITY --- Thirteen members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, six of them bomb-makers, surrendered here Friday.

The group bolted from the BIFF and pledged allegiance to the government through the intercession of Lt. Col. Edwin Alburo and Brig. Gen. Roy Galido, commanders of the 40^th Infantry Battalion and the 601^st Infantry Brigade, respectively.

ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat – A ranking communist rebel and a companion have surrendered to the military in their desire to be with their families peacefully, an Army official today said.

Lt. Colonel Rommel Valenica, 7^th Infantry Battalion commander, presented the New Peples Army (NPA) surrenderees to Sultan Kudarat Gov. Suharto Mangudadatu, also chair of Provincial Task Force to End Local Armed Conflict (ELCAC) during the Firearm Renumeration Program for former rebels.

It was held at the Sultan Kudarat Sangguniang Panglalawigan session hall Friday morning.

COTABATO CITY --- The Armed Forces chief of staff who got a Medal of Valor for gallantry and whose tenure ended Saturday urged southerners to emulate how residents of Basilan have made their province peaceful.

Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana who retired from the Philippine Army on July 31, was still a captain in a Ranger unit when he got maimed in a deadly clash with Abu Sayyaf terrorists in Barangay Kapayawan in Isabela City in Basilan on January 13, 1995.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao - Soldiers have collected 97 firearms from supporters of the New People’s Army and Dawlah Islamiya in Maitum town and nearby areas in the past three months, a regional Army official said Thursday.

The firearms were voluntarily turned in by owners through the intercession of the Army’s 38^th Infantry Battalion and officials of the 603^rd Infantry Brigade, according to Major Gen. Juvymax Uy of the 6^th Infantry Division.

AMPATUAN, Maguindanao  – Eleven outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) have separately surrendered voluntarily on separate occasions to the Army units under the First Mechanized Infantry Brigade based in Maguindanao.

On Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m., Lt. Colonel Cresencio Sanchez, 1^st Mechanized Infantry Battalion commander, presented the four BIFF fighters during ceremonies witnessed by Mayor Marop Ampatuan of Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Five supportive barangay chairmen of the municipality of Pikit, North Cotabato helped in the campaign against loose firearms program of the government by turning over five high-powered firearms and crew-serve weapons to the military at Pikit Municipal Hall on July 16, 2021.

Surrendered firearms and crew-serve weapons were one (1) 7.62 M14, one M79, one (1) RPG, one (1) Cal .50mm and one (1) 60mm mortar.