ZAMBOANGA CITY – Eleven members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters-Karialan Faction have surrendered to the government authorities in Maguindanao as they wish to live peaceful lives with their families, military officials announced Sunday.
Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said they surrendered around 8 o’clock in the morning of Saturday to the 6th Infantry Battalion (IB) in Sitio Landing Fish, Barangay Buayan, Datu Piang, Maguindanao.
Vinluan said that the BIFF surrenderees have yielded 12 high-powered. These are: one M653 A1; two M16 A1s; one M16 A3; one Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), one improvised caliber .50 sniper rifle; one improvised caliber .30 sniper rifle, one caliber .30 M1 Garand rifle; two M-14 rifles; one homemade grenade launcher; and, one M-79 grenade launcher.
He said that the 11 surrenderees are the first batch of BIFF members who surrendered to the 6IB this year. “We are optimistic that more will come as we continue our peace campaign,” he added.
Lt. Col. Charlie Banaag, 6IB commander, said the BIFF surrenderees admitted that one of the reasons they have decided to surrender is they missed their families and “they wish to live a peaceful life with them”.
“One of the 11 (BIFF surrenderees) became emotional as he was narrating that he joined the group while his son was still small but now he already has grandchildren,” Banaag said.
“Now, all what he wished for is to be reunited with his family,” Banaag added. He said they also revealed that they are tired of hiding and they lack financial support, hence, their surrender.
Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, 6th Infantry Division (ID) commander said that the balanced use of military and non-military efforts “that is being conducted by our line units and is now proven effective”.
A total of 71 BIFF militants have surrendered since Uy assumed as the 6ID commander on September 7, 2020.
Col. Ferdinand Lacadin, 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade commander, commended the troops of the 6IB and the military and police intelligence units for facilitating the successful surrender of the 11 BIFF militants. – Nikolai Gonzalo
