November 13, 2025 | 8:16pm
COTABATO CITY — Sixteen more terrorists have surrendered and renounced their membership with the now-defunct Dawlah Islamiya and its ally, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), during a symbolic ceremony in Barangay Buayan, Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur, on Wednesday, November 12.
Local officials, including several municipal councilors, confirmed Thursday that six of the surrenderers were experts in fabricating improvised explosive devices (IEDs) using ammonium nitrate or potassium chlorate as main charges, often rigged with mobile phone–activated detonators.
Two of the 16, Omar Mursid Bantas and Alim Radia Mandah, told reporters they decided to join the government’s reconciliation program for violent religious extremists under the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID). The program was carried out through the joint efforts of local executives from Datu Piang, Datu Salibo, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Hoffer, and Nabalawag in Cotabato province, along with officials from the 6th Infantry Battalion (6IB) and the 601st Infantry Brigade.
The former militants surrendered more than a dozen firearms—including two long-range sniper rifles (.30 and .50 caliber), 40mm grenade and B40 anti-tank launchers, a 7.62 Belgian FN rifle, a .38 revolver, and 20 IEDs—to Lt. Col. Al Victor Burkley, commanding officer of the 6IB, and Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, commander of the 601st Brigade. They then pledged allegiance to the government in the presence of Datu Piang Mayor Victor Samama and local Islamic leaders.
Maj. Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of the 6ID, and Maj. Gen. Donald Gumiran, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, which covers Regions 9 and 12 and the Bangsamoro region, expressed gratitude to the local officials who facilitated the surrender and reintegration of the group.
“To all of them, we are very grateful,” Cagara said.
Wednesday’s surrender brings to 1,739 the total number of Dawlah Islamiya and BIFF members who have yielded to various units of the 6ID in Central Mindanao since 2021, according to division and regional peace council records.
Officials from the Bangsamoro social services and labor ministries, along with their counterparts in Region 12, said that over 70 percent of former combatants are now gainfully employed—as farmers, fishermen, drivers, construction workers, and local government traffic aides—under livelihood and reintegration programs.
Both Dawlah Islamiya and the BIFF were known for sowing terror in Mindanao, targeting non-Muslims, and extorting “protection money” from business owners. The groups were also behind several bomb attacks in public places and buses that refused to comply with their demands.