10 armed terrorists surrender in Maguindanao
Mindanao Peace Process • 05:30 AM Sat Oct 31, 2020
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By:
John M. Unson
6th ID chief Major Gen. Juvymax Uy receives an assault rifle from the leader of the 10 terrorists who surrendered Thursday. (6th ID photo)
CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao - Ten more members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters surrendered to the Army in Sultan sa Barongis town Thursday.
The BIFF, also known as the Dawlah Islamiya, is operating in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and is tagged in all deadly bombings in central Mindanao since 2015.
Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, said Friday the surrender of the 10 BIFF gunmen capped off Thursday's celebration of the founding anniversary of the Sultan sa Barongis town in the second district of Maguindanao.
Sultan sa Barongis, created in the early 1970s, is close to the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta, a known haven of terror blocs using the black ISIS flag as banner.
Narix Saligan, Ting Dadin, Kamarudin Maguid, Mosanip Maguid, Nana Makalimpas, Walid Milikano, Allan Bagel, Macky Sandigan, Bastih Usman and Datukan Palaguyan yielded through the efforts Sultan sa Barongis municipal officials and the Army's 33rd Infantry Battalion of the 601st Infantry Brigade.
They are now in the custody of the 6th ID, awaiting reintroduction to the local communities.
The surrender of the 10 BIFF members came barely a week after nine others turned themselves in to Uy during a surrender rite at Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao, a ceremony witnessed by officials from the military's Western Mindanao Command and Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, the chief of the Philippine Army.
More than 200 BIFF members have surrendered to the 6th ID in batches since 2017.
Uy said he is thankful to the local government units in the second district of Maguindanao province for initiating continuing backdoor dialogues with BIFF leaders to convince them and their followers to return to mainstream society.
The 10 BIFF members who surrendered Thursday also turned in assault rifles and components for improvised explosive devices.