Four BIFF Bombmakers Surrender to Army in Maguindanao del Sur
Key Takeaways
- •Four remaining B bombmakers — Monib Gani Andig, Musa Mandih Kadir, Mohammad Salih Gani, and Onting Marding Mantato — pledged allegiance to the government on Tuesday and swore over the Quran to reform.
- •Their surrender was brokered through the intercession of the mayors of Radjah Buayan and General Salipada K. Pendatun, together with officials of the 34th Infantry Battalion and the 601st Infantry Brigade.
- •Before signing a statement recognizing the Philippine Constitution and the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the four handed over assault rifles, B40 anti-tank rocket and 40-millimeter grenade launchers, and a dozen assorted IEDs.
- •Community leaders and Muslim preachers supporting the joint anti-terror campaign had identified the men as experts in building powerful IEDs with ammonium nitrate or potassium chlorate charges and mobile phone-triggered detonators.
- •The surrendered bombmakers committed to convincing the few remaining BIFF and Dawlah Islamiya members to avail of the government's reconciliation program for violent religious extremists.
COTABATO CITY — Four remaining members of the defunct Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), all well-versed in assembling improvised explosive devices (IEDs), pledged allegiance to the government on Tuesday and vowed over the Quran to reform for good.
The four bombmakers — Monib Gani Andig, Musa Mandih Kadir, Mohammad Salih Gani, and Onting Marding Mantato — agreed to return to the fold of the law through the intercession of two mayors: Maruja A. Mastura of Radjah Buayan and Mielyn B. Ali of General Salipada K. Pendatun, both towns in Maguindanao del Sur. The surrender was facilitated with officials of the 34th Infantry Battalion (IB) and their superior, Brig. Gen. Gremel B. Brual of the 601st Infantry Brigade.
The BIFF broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the early 2010s to reject the government peace process, and is now inactive, leaving only a few of its members, along with remaining elements of the Dawlah Islamiya — a separate Islamic State-inspired group — still outside the fold.
Before signing a statement recognizing the Philippine Constitution and the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the 2019 statute that created the now seven-year Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, each of the four turned over assault rifles, B40 anti-tank rocket and 40-millimeter grenade launchers, along with a dozen assorted IEDs, to officials of the 34th IB.
Moro datus in different towns in Maguindanao del Sur and Muslim preachers supporting the joint anti-terror campaign of the Army's 6th Infantry Division and the Police Regional Office–Bangsamoro Autonomous Region had confirmed to reporters that the four bombmakers were all experts in assembling powerful IEDs. The devices used either ammonium nitrate or potassium chlorate as explosive charges, rigged with detonators that could be set off from a distance using mobile phones.
During the surrender ceremony at the 34th IB headquarters in Barangay Zapakan in Radjah Buayan, all four also committed to helping convince the few remaining members of the now inactive BIFF and the Dawlah Islamiya terror groups to avail of the reconciliation program for violent religious extremists, the government's avenue for easing former combatants back into civilian life. — John Felix M. Unson
