Wanted BIFF leader nabbed in Maguindanao Sur

MIRANDA RIGHTS. Agents from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BAR) apprise Commander Bayawak of his constitutional rights and the Republic Act 9745 also known as the Anti-Torture Act of 2009 as they inform him of his warrants of arrest. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY CIDG BAR

COTABATO CITY — A sub-commander of the Daesh-inspired Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) was arrested Wednesday by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BAR) in Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur.

Abunawas Ibad Damiog, 65, also known as Commander Bayawak and resident of Alongan village of Datu Piang, was once one of the trusted lieutenants of BIFF founding chair Commander Ameril Umra Kato, said Lieutenant Colonel Ariel Huesca, CIDG-BAR regional chief.

Huesca said Damiog, the police’s third most wanted person in the expanded autonomous region, did not resist arrest despite the caliber .45 pistol tucked in his waist.

Damiog is facing charges of murder, double frustrated murder, multiple attempted murder, destructive arson, and violation of Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 for the December 2020 attack in Datu Piang, where he led 90 heavily-armed BIFF members torch a police patrol vehicle, strafe the Sta. Teresita Parish church and harass the Charlie Company detachment of the 6th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Kanguan, near the Poblacion, Huesca said.

His charges for murder and double-frustrated murder also sprung from the Datu Unsay attack in 2012 that killed an Army officer and wounded two others.

“We are still coordinating with other police units to determine if he has other arrest warrants involving other atrocities,” Huesca said.

He said that in 2021, Damiog, then the deputy chief for military affairs of BIFF Bungos faction, surrendered to the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade of the 6th Infantry Division in Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur.

But Damiog still had no warrant of arrest at that time so he was given assistance and was allowed to go back to mainstream society, Huesca said.