Mindanao Peace Process

COTABATO CITY --- Residents of Sitangkai island town in Tawi-Tawi turned over to the military eight more unlicensed firearms over the weekend.

The eight firearms - two .45 caliber pistols, a .30 caliber Carbine rifle, three .30 caliber Garand rifles, a Belgian 7.62 FN assault rifle and a 9 millimeter pistol - were turned in by residents of Barangay Sipangkot in Sitangkai through the intercession of local officials and the 12^th Marine Battalion.

SULTAN KUDARAT --- Two more senior New People’s Army guerillas pledged allegiance to the government Friday and promised to help urge active comrades to surrender, the military said Sunday.

The duo, Jonathan Saliling and Michael Lugko, yielded to the Army’s 7^th Infantry Battalion under the 601^st Brigade after learning that local executives in Sultan Kudarat’s adjoining Senator Ninoy Aquino, Isulan and Esperanza towns are now helping the military identify NPAs operating in barangays under their jurisdiction.

COTABATO CITY --- Regional security officials were elated with the commitment of support from the largest bloc in the Moro National Liberation Front to the anti-terror campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, said Thursday MNLF’s pledge to help the Western Mindanao Command and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region maintain law and order in areas where it has members is a boost to efforts of addressing local security woes.

COTABATO CITY – Ten more combatants of the Daesh-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) have abandoned their cause and decided to return to the fold of law to live normal lives again.

Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, Army’s 6th Infantry Division (ID) commander, said the surrenderers belong to the BIFF Karialan faction operating in the marshlands of Maguindanao under the SPMS box.

MAGUINDANAO --- The Army’s 6^th Infantry Division has expanded its anti-communist insurgency initiatives but the gates of its camps remain wide open to rebels wishing to return to mainstream society.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy of 6^th ID said Wednesday they can reintroduce members in Central Mindanao of the New People’s Army (NPA) to the local communities via the municipal and provincial governments in the region.

The family of Akmad Kamensa has to leave their home in 2002 to find safer place from the on-going conflict during that year in Barangay Talibadok, Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao under the geographical territory of Camp Omar of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

It was difficult for Akmad, with his wife and their nine children to vacate their home but it was their only choice to protect their children and the whole family from the threat of war.

ZAMBOANGA CITY – A member of the Islamic State-inspired Dawlah Islamiya terrorist group has surrendered to government troops in Lanao del Sur, officials said Friday.

Samad Macaampon, alias Abu Samad, 40, surrendered at the Tactical Command Post of the 82nd Infantry Battalion (IB) in Barangay Gacap, Piagapo town at about 10 a.m. on Thursday to live a peaceful life with his family, 82IB commander, Lt. Col. Rafman Altre, said.

Macaampon, who turned over a grenade launcher, joined Dawlah Islamiya, which laid siege to Marawi City in 2017.

COTABATO CITY – Love can move mountains, so as the saying goes.

The old maxim rang true when the women who helped convince their would-be husbands to abandon the communist rebel movement tied the knot in a mass wedding in Antipas, North Cotabato on Thursday.

The pairs were among the 32 couples who were wed during the provincial government’s “Serbisyo Caravan,” described by officials as a one-stop-shop initiative for far-flung communities to access basic services and other assistance.