Military discovers another BIFF camp

MAGUINDANAO - Soldiers on Tuesday found another abandoned lair  of the brigand Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Datu Saudi town, the second enclave in Maguindanao the military took over in a span three days.

Combined combatants of the Army’s 37th Infantry Battalion and the 14th Mechanized Company learned of the camp’s exact location in Sitio Tatapan, a secluded area in Barangay Kitango in southwest of Datu Saudi, from Muslim villagers that the BIFF have long been subjecting to excessive taxation to sustain its criminal activities.

Soldiers recovered from the abandoned BIFF hideout gun parts, tripods for .50 caliber machine guns, antennas for two-way radios, ammunition for assorted firearms, and documents detailing plans to bomb public places, passenger vehicles and business establishments in Central Mindanao.

Local officials said the bandits hastily left their hideout in Sitio Tatapan immediately after combatants of different Army units and the 6th Marine Battalion restored government control over the BIFF’s main bastion in Barangay Dasikil in nearby Mamasapano town, about seven kilometers southwest of Datu Saudi.

Army and Marine combatants hoisted the Philippine flag on Sunday at the BIFF camp in Barangay Dasikil, where bandits, led by clerics Tambako and Karialan, and their men had assembled bombs used in recent deadly bombings in Central Mindanao.

Captain Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, declined to reveal what were written on the documents showing the criminal plots of the BIFF to prevent causing panic among Central Mindanao folks.

“These are among the reasons why the military is engaged now in a law enforcement operation against this group,” Petinglay said.

Petinglay said security threats from the BIFF are now being addressed jointly by the military and the Philippine National Police.

"Local government units have also been very supportive. LGUs are helping guard against BIFF attacks," Petinglay said.

Petinglay said the main focus now of the law enforcement campaign against the BIFF is to weaken the groups of Tambako and Karialan, both feared for their ruthless Taliban-style of justice system in far-flung areas where they operate.

Tambako, whose real name is Mohammad, was said to have launched a BIFF “sub-group” dubbed Saifullah, which means “sword of god” shortly before military units in Maguindanao launched an offensive against him and his followers.

The BIFF has also been interfering with the law enforcement activities of duly-constituted barangay governments as provided for by the Local Government Code.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza on Wednesday warned her constituents to be vigilant against possible BIFF diversionary attacks in their respective towns and at the provincial capital, Kidapawan City.

Mendoza had ordered the North Cotabato provincial police to tighten security in the entire province.

Army and police bomb experts promptly deactivated last Tuesday an improvised explosive device found by residents in Kabacan town in the third district of North Cotabato.

At least six people were killed while more than 60 others were injured in four bomb attacks by the BIFF in North Cotabato in late 2014.

“We, the Moro, Christian and lumad sectors, need to help each other guard against attacks by groups trying to undermine our communal peace initiatives meant to foster tranquility among these three groups in the province,” Mendoza said.