NEW LIFE. The 15 former violent extremists pose with local officials, police, and Army officials after their surrender at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Center in Cotabato City on Thursday (Feb. 29, 2024). They received initial cash assistance and other non-monetary benefits from the city government and Maguindanao del Norte provincial government for the firearms (inset) they surrendered. (Photo courtesy of Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad Ali Matabalao)
COTABATO CITY – Fifteen members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in Maguindanao del Norte have surrendered to authorities in their bid to reform and live normal lives.
“They belonged to the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters-Kagui Karialan faction,” Cotabato City Mayor Mohammad Ali Matabalao said in a statement Friday.
On Thursday afternoon, Matabalao led the surrender rites of the BIFF batch upon orders of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim in welcoming the returnees at the regional government center here.
“We hope more BIFF will be embracing peace in the coming days,” the mayor said.
A BIFF fighter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were convinced to lay down their firearms and embrace peace when they were told of the government’s economic package if they surrender.
“Our struggle has no known direction, we were blinded by promises, and we realized we are fighting a lost cause,” said “Bata”, the BIFF sub-leader, adding his group has denounced violent extremism where the victims of war are those in the province's remote communities.
Matabalao also credited the Army and the police who helped facilitate the formal surrender of the BIFF combatants.
As initial aid, the surrenderers received a sack of rice each, financial assistance in exchange for their surrendered war materiel, and non-monetary benefits under the Balik Baril program of the government.
They turned in two 60-mm mortar launch tubes, two .50-caliber sniper rifles, an M-14 rifle, and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. (PNA)
