11 more BIFF terrorists surrender in Maguindanao del Sur

June 12, 2026 | 2:40pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Eleven more remnants of the now defunct Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, four of them experts in the fabrication of improvised explosive devices, surrendered in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur on Wednesday, June 10.

Captain Steffie Salanguit, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, told reporters on Thursday that the 11 terrorists renounced their membership with the BIFF during a surrender rite on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police Office at Camp Datu Akilan in Shariff Aguak.

The 11 BIFF members agreed to surrender and reform for good through the joint intercession of Maguindanao del Sur’s provincial police director, Col. Michael John Mangahis, municipal and provincial officials and Islamic missionaries supporting the joint anti-terror efforts of PRO-BAR and Army’s 6th Infantry Division and its unit in covering the province, the 601^st Infantry Brigade.

Shariff Aguak municipal officials had confirmed to reporters that four of the 11 BIFF members who surrendered, whom they identified only as Salik, Beduh, Musib and Samsudin, were good at assembling powerful IEDs, using either ammonium nitrate or potassium chlorate as blasting charges, and packed with nails and metal fragments with jagged edges, that can be detonated from a distance using mobile phones.

The two leaders of the group had told reporters that they agreed to apply for PRO-BAR and 6th ID’s joint reconciliation program for violent religious extremists after learning that all of their companions, who surrendered and availed of it, in batches, since 2024, had all been reintegrated to the local communities, now thriving as farmers, construction workers, drivers and conductors of passenger vehicles and as community watchmen in their respective barangays.

The 11 terrorists first turned over to Mangahis and his subordinate-officers their firearms and large IEDs before they pledged allegiance to the government on Wednesday at Camp Akilan in Shariff Aguak.

Police Brig. Gen. Christopher Abecia, director of PRO-BAR and Salanguit had separately said that all of the 11 erstwhile BIFF members shall be reintroduced to mainstream society by police units in Maguindanao del Sur and local executives after undergoing religious reorientation by Islamic theologians.

Thursday’s surrender of the 11 terrorists to the Maguindanao del Sur police force brought to 724 the total number of BIFF members who surrendered, since 2024, to different PRO-BAR units in the province.

Photo: The 11 terrorists who surrendered on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, are now in the custody of the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police Office.