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Ex-MILF leader vows to help gov’t attain peace

By Edwin Fernandez

June 18, 2020, 6:16 pm

<p><strong>PEACE PARTNER.</strong> Former Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander Sambutuan Sanday (in striped long sleeves) hands over his rifle to Brigadier Gen. Roberto Capulong, the Army’s 602nd brigade commander, during a surrender ceremony on Wednesday (June 17, 2020) in Pikit, North Cotabato. Sanday vowed to work with the government to attain peace in troubled Moro communities. <em>(Photo courtesy of 602Bde)</em></p>

PEACE PARTNER. Former Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander Sambutuan Sanday (in striped long sleeves) hands over his rifle to Brigadier Gen. Roberto Capulong, the Army’s 602nd brigade commander, during a surrender ceremony on Wednesday (June 17, 2020) in Pikit, North Cotabato. Sanday vowed to work with the government to attain peace in troubled Moro communities. (Photo courtesy of 602Bde)

COTABATO CITY – A former Moro rebel leader who ignited a two-month clan war in the border of Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces vowed on Thursday to help the government maintain peace in Moro communities.

In a statement released by the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade (Bde), former Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) brigade commander Sambutuan Sanday said he will assist the military and the local government units how to put a stop to clan wars.

Sanday and his followers stormed the villages near the boundary of Pagalungan, Maguindanao, and Pikit in North Cotabato in early April that forced more than 1,000 families of Muslim civilians to evacuate and live in cramped evacuation sites for the past two months.

The displaced families returned to their respective communities early this month.

Sanday is at loggerheads with another MILF official, identified as Richard Kusain. Both are locked in an ownership dispute over a vast tract of land in the marshy area of Pikit and Pagalungan municipalities.

Voluntarily presenting himself to the military on June 16, Sanday handed over his rifle and ammunition to Brig. Gen. Roberto Capulong, Army’s 602Bde commander.

His intentional submission was made possible through the intervention of Pikit Mayor Sumulong Sultan.

“I am more than willing to help the government restore normalcy in Muslim villages,” Sanday said.

Major Gen. Diosdado Carreon, Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander and chief of Joint Task Force Central (JFTC), lauded the military and local officials’ efforts in bringing Commander Sanday to the government side.

"With this challenging situation brought about by pandemic crisis, your JTFC will continue to sustain the peace and order in the area," Carreon said, adding that government efforts to put a stop to clan wars in the 6th ID area of responsibility will be intensified. (PNA)

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