12 more BIFF men surrender in Maguindanao
Mindanao Peace Process • 14:45 PM Sat Dec 18, 2021
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By:
John M. Unson
The 12 men are now in the custody of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade. (From 6th ID)
AMPATUAN, Maguindanao --- Twelve more members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, five of them bomb-makers, surrendered here Friday.
The group yielded through the intercession of officials of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, and local executives.
Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of 6th ID, said Saturday the 12 BIFF members turned in their rifles and a .50 caliber machinegun before they pledged allegiance to the government in the presence of local officials.
The surrender rite was held at the headquarters of the mechanized brigade in Barangay Kamasi here.
More than 300 BIFF members surrendered in batches to units of 6th ID in the past 14 months, a result of the division’s backchannel efforts to return members of the terror group to mainstream society.
Five of the 12 BIFF members who yielded Friday confessed to their being experts in fabrication of improvised explosive devices.
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.
The group has a reputation for fomenting hatred for non-Muslims and for bombing business establishments and public conveyances if owners refuse to shell out “protection money” on monthly basis.
“We are calling on BIFF members out there to avail of our local reconciliation program now. It is not too late yet,” Uy told reporters.
Uy said the 12 BIFF members, whose names he withheld for security reasons, shall be reintroduced to the local communities by local officials and the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade.
The BIFF is known for attacking members who have bolted from the group and their families.