6 'private armed group' members yield in Maguindanao

From the Philippine News Agency (Apr 13, 2021): 6 'private armed group' members yield in Maguindanao (By Edwin Fernandez)

SURRENDER. The six gunmen who surrendered to PRO-BARMM Director Brig. Gen. Eden Ugale (center) during simple rites held Tuesday morning (April 13, 2021) at Camp SK Pendatun in Parang, Maguindanao. The surrenderers also yielded one Garand rifle, an improvised shotgun, a homemade .50-caliber Barret sniper rifle, and ammunition. (Photo courtesy of PRO-BARMM)

Six private armed group (PAG) members operating in Maguindanao surrendered on Tuesday and turned in their firearms to police authorities in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), a top police official said.

Brigadier General Eden T. Ugale, Police Regional Office (PRO) - BARMM director, said the armed men who surrendered Tuesday morning at the BARMM police’s headquarters in Parang, Maguindanao, belonged to the “Matalam” group.

“This successful surrender of Matalan PAG is in line with the programs under the security aspect of the normalization process of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro that focus on disbanding of armed groups in the BARMM territory,” Ugale told reporters during the surrender ceremony.

Ugale vowed to dismantle all existing private armed groups in the region, even as he lauded local officials in Maguindanao for cooperating with the government's program to rid the region of private armies.

Since January 1, at least 21 members of private armed groups have surrendered to the regional police.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1136631