MORE BIFF SURRENDERS. Brig. Gen. John Guyguyon, police director for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, receives the rifle of one of the surrendering Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters on Tuesday (March 21, 2023). The group (inset) also turned in high-powered firearms. (Photo courtesy of PRO-BARMM)
PARANG, Maguindanao del Norte – Twenty-two members of the extremist Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) operating in Maguindanao del Norte province have surrendered to police authorities, an official said Wednesday.
Brig. Gen. John Guyguyon, police director for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), welcomed the BIFF surrenderers who also turned in their high-powered firearms on Tuesday afternoon.
“I welcome you to the mainstream. I admire your decision to be with your respective families,” Guyguyon said in a statement, referring to the surrenderers that included two potential private armed group (PPAG) leaders.
The two PPAG leaders, whose names were withheld for security reasons, belong to the Sali Group and Tonda Group, both known private armed groups in Maguindanao del Norte.
They turned in eight homemade .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifles, a Garand rifle, three homemade rocket-propelled grenade launchers, three M79 grenade launchers, a 60mm mortar round, an RPG ammo, two homemade explosive devices, and two .45-caliber pistols.
A surrenderer who requested anonymity said he decided to yield to live a normal life with his family.
“Life is hard out there; we cannot even eat three times a day,” he was quoted in the statement as saying, even as he called on other comrades still fighting the government to turn themselves in. (PNA)
