Wesmincom chief Lt. Gen Corleto Vinluan Jr.
The chief of the Western Mindanao military observed a “changing security landscape” in Central Mindanao with more members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) yielding to state security forces.
On Thursday the Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) announced the surrender of four BIFF members to the Joint Task Force Central.
Wesmincom chief Lt. Gen Corleto Vinluan Jr. identified the BIFF surrenderees by their aliases: Ustadz, Kano, Magdusa and Abu Zubair.
He said the four men yielded to the 92nd Infantry Battalion (92IB) in Barangay Tuayan Mother, Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, Maguindanao, and surrendered two M1 Garand rifles, an M16 automatic rifle, and a light machine gun.
The four BIFF men are undergoing custodial debriefing and their firearms were deposited at the 92IB headquarters for safekeeping.
170 neutralized since January
Early this month, 13 BIFF members surrendered in Sultan Kudarat and, on Aug. 13 there were 11 BIFF men who yielded in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.
Since January, a total of 170 BIFF personalities have been neutralized with 69 of them killed in skirmishes, 98 surrendered, and three apprehended.
According to Vinluan, “the series of surrenders only proves that the security landscape in Central Mindanao is indeed changing.”
“Rest assured that all those who returned peacefully to the fold of the law will be completely mainstreamed to their respective communities,” Vinluan said.
The BIFF, a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and considered a local terrorist group, is mostly active in Central Mindanao particularly in Maguindanao.
From a reported force of 500 in 2016, the number of BIFF men has supposedly been reduced to half last year.