SUMISIP, BASILAN—Thirty-two members of the Abu Sayyaf terror group surrendered to the military on Monday.
They included a 10-year-old boy, identified only as Tony, who said he could shoot an M4 Carbine assault rifle. Tony surrendered with his elder brother Halid and nine others.
Their faction of 11 was led by Moton Indama, a cousin of Abu Sayyaf leader Furuji Indama. Moton had about 30 followers but only the 11 surrendered because “they were afraid to join me. They were afraid that after surrendering, we will all be killed,” he said.
Tony, who lost his parents in a military operation, said another older brother opted not to surrender.
Twenty-one other terrorists from another Abu Sayyaf faction, the Baiwas group, also gave themselves up.
“We want to live like civilians where we can roam freely in our town together with our families,” Weller Baliyung, 27, said.
Baliyung said their food supplies and other support for the war had been dwindling due to the nonstop military operations.
“We have lost so many comrades. We still want to live and see our families,” he said.
Lt. Gen. Mayoralgo de la Cruz, Western Mindanao Command chief, received the surrenderees in a ceremony at the Sumisip town hall. Of the 32, five were children.
De la Cruz said Tony would now have a chance to dream big. “He could be a cop or a lawyer.”