By Edwin Fernandez

LOOSE FIREARMS. Several of the 16 unlicensed firearms yielded by 16 BIFF extremists who surrendered and were presented to military officials in Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, on Friday (March 14, 2025). As part of their surrender package, they received cash, bags of rice, and agricultural equipment from the BARMM government. (Photo from 6th Infantry Battalion)

COTABATO CITY – Sixteen members of the extremist Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) have yielded and pledged allegiance to the Philippine flag during simple surrender rites held at an Army battalion headquarters in Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, on Friday afternoon.

Lt. Col. Al Victor Burkley, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Battalion based in Datu Piang town, presented the BIFF surrenderers to Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade.

“Local officials of Datu Piang helped in the negotiation and processing of the former extremist combatants to laying down of their firearms and their reintegration process back to the mainstream,” Burkley said in a statement Saturday.

He said 12 of the extremists were operating in Datu Salibo town, three in Datu Saudi Ampatuan municipality, and one in Shariff Saydona Mustapha.

They also surrendered 16 high-powered firearms.

As part of the surrender package, the 16 surrenderers received cash, bags of rice, and agricultural equipment from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao government.

“I would like to commend the military, police, and the local government units for supporting our efforts to clear communities of loose firearms as a requirement in establishing peaceful communities,” Catu said in a separate statement Saturday.

Since Jan. 1, more than 600 assorted firearms have been collected by the 6th Infantry Division during law enforcement operations in Central Mindanao. (PNA)