15 ex-terrorists return to families in Central Mindanao

COTABATO CITY— The Army has started reintroducing to mainstream society 15 local terrorists, five of them experts in the fabrication of homemade bombs, who pledged allegiance to the government on Monday, December 16.

Major Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told reporters on Wednesday, December 18, that the 15 former members of the now moribund Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters from far-flung areas in Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte provinces agreed to renounce their membership with both groups through the intercession of local executives and officials the 1st Brigade Combat Team and its units.

The group first turned over military-type rifles, 40-millimeter grenade and B40 anti-tank launchers to officials of the Army’s 1st BCT, led by Lt. Col. Gilbert Boado and his superior, Brig. Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, before they promised to reform for good and return to their families during a surrender rite in Pigkalagan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao del Norte.

Nafarrete said the event was witnessed by local executives who helped convince the 15 armed men to surrender via dialogues brokered by Islamic preachers supporting the 6th ID's peace and security programs. 

The group immediately underwent an orientation on Islamic teachings on religious tolerance and respect for people regardless of religion and ethnic origins. The BIFF and the Dawlah Islamiya, tagged in all deadly bombings in Central Mindanao since 2014, both have a reputation for fomenting animosity towards non-Muslims.

More than a thousand members of the two now virtually weakened terror groups had surrendered to units of the 6th ID in Central Mindanao since 2021, many of them now studying in public schools while others are thriving as farmers in their hometowns.