10 more BIFF members in Maguindanao surrender

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Ten more members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters pledged allegiance to the government Friday.

The 10 BIFF members turned in assorted firearms before they renounced their membership with the group in the presence of Army and police officials at the headquarters of the 601st Infantry Brigade in Barangay Kamasi in Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Norte.

Major Gen. Roy Galido, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said Saturday the group agreed to surrender through the intercession of Col. Pangcog of the 601st Infantry Brigade and officials of its component-battalions.

Galido said the 10 BIFF members who have returned to the fold of law, whose identities were withheld for their safety, shall be reintroduced to mainstream society by the 6th ID with the help of different government agencies.

The BIFF has a reputation for attacking members who have surrendered to the government and their relatives.

More than 300 members of the BIFF and its ally, the Dawlah Islamiya, have surrendered to brigades and battalions under 6th ID in the past three years.

Both terrorist groups, operating in the fashion of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, are tagged in all deadly bombings in central Mindanao since 2014.