5 BIFF men yield to Army in Maguindanao Sur

From the Philippine News Agency (Mar 22, 2024): 5 BIFF men yield to Army in Maguindanao Sur (By Edwin Fernandez)

BIFF SURRENDER. Three of the five guns surrendered by five Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to the Army in Maguindanao del Sur after they decided to return to mainstream society on Thursday (March 21, 2024). The rebels were involved in harassment of state forces before their surrender, military officials said. (Photo courtesy of 33IB)

RAJAH BUAYAN, Maguindanao Sur – Five members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) have voluntarily surrendered to military and local authorities here.

“Four surrenderers belonged to the BIFF-Kagui Karialan faction while the fifth surrenderer is under the BIFF-Bungos faction with both groups operating in Maguindanao del Sur,” Brig. Gen. Oriel Pangcog, the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade commander, said in a report to the Army’s 6th Infantry Division on Friday.

Pangcog said the former extremists conveyed their intention to rejoin mainstream society through Lt. Col. Udjie Villan, commander of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion (IB).

Villan presented the surrenderers at the 33IB headquarters in Barangay Sapakan, Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao del Sur, on Thursday afternoon.

The group turned in a homemade 50-caliber Barrett sniper rifle and four Garand rifles to the military. In exchange, they initially received monetary and food packages from the government.

On March 10, nine BIFF members also surrendered to the military after the death of their comrade and the arrest of their sub-leader as a result of military operations in the fringes of this town.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1221331