COTABATO CITY — Fifteen members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) are the latest to surrender to the government in Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, the Philippine Army in southern Philippines said Tuesday.
Their surrender on Monday brings to 491 the number of local terrorists to surrender from Maguindanao del Sur alone in the past 12 months, according to Major Gen. Alex S. Rillera, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.
Those who surrendered were led by BIFF faction leader Kagui Karialan, who is wanted for more than 30 high-profile criminal cases pending in different courts in Central Mindanao.
In renouncing their BIFF membership, they also surrendered at least 15 long firearms and a dozen improvised explosive devices or IEDs to the 6th Infantry Battalion led by Col. Michael Glenn S. Manansala. — John Felix M. Unson
