13 more BIFF men surrender in Maguindanao
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 40th Infantry Battalion and the 601st Infantry Brigade, respectively.
They turned in assorted firearms, including M-79 grenade launchers, an M14 assault rifle, a .50 caliber bolt-action sniper’s rifle, three machine pistols, B40 anti-tank rocket launchers and 40 millimeter grenade projectiles.
The 13 bandits --- Muntani Kutin, Bayan Kabilan, Mohamad Usman, Yasser Guiwan, Tugan Guiwan, Datusela Guiwan, Leto Akil Buka, Ronnie Pelmin, Page Pegkag Usman, Randy Guialudin, Misuari Kanakan, Abu Amir Ilian and Puti Kanakan --- belonged to one of three factions in the BIFF, the one under Kagui Karialan.
Karialan was reported to have died from a lingering illness in June, but local officials and sources from the Islamic religious community said it was a feigned death, meant to keep him off circulation owing to his being wanted in different courts for more than 30 criminal cases, including deadly bomb attacks in recent years.
Six of his 13 followers who surrendered at the headquarters of the 601st Infantry Brigade in Barangay Kalandagan, Tacurong City are experts in fabrication of IEDs.
Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said Friday he is thankful to Alburo, Galido and local executives in Maguindanao province for working out the surrender of the 13 bandits.
The group operated in towns in the second district of Maguindanao, where there are bastions of the BIFF and other groups identified with the Dawlah Islamiya.
The BIFF, operating in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, is tagged in all deadly bombings in central Mindanao since 2013.
It has a reputation for bombing commercial establishments, public conveyances and non-Islamic worship sites if demands for “protection money” are not met.
More than a hundred BIFF gunmen surrendered to units of 6th ID in the past 12 months.