2 wanted BIFF members arrested in South Cotabato

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February 28, 2026 | 4:54pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Policemen and soldiers arrested two remnants of the now defunct Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, both wanted for multiple frustrated murder and destructive arson, in a joint operation in Barangay Bunao in Tupi, South Cotabato on Friday, February 27.

Nasrullah Omar Onsek, an erstwhile field commander of the BIFF, and his female companion, Rowaida Omar, who had worked in the terror group’s medical team, are now locked in separate cells in a tightly-guarded police detention facility.

Brig. Gen. Arnold Ardiente, director of the Police Regional Office 12, told reporters on Saturday that Onsek and Omar yielded peacefully when agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Regional Field Office 12, operatives from the Tupi Municipal Police Station and other PRO 12 units and soldiers from the Army’s 6th Infantry Battalion and the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade arrived at their hideout in Barangay Bunao to arrest them based on warrants issued by a court.

Policemen and soldiers had seized from Onsek and Omar a .45 caliber pistol and a fragmentation grenade, according to Ardiente and the commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara.

Officials of the CIDG 12 and Ardiente separately said they are thankful to Cagara and his subordinate-officers in the 6th IB and the 1st Mechanized Brigade for supporting the law-enforcement operation that resulted in the arrest of Onsek and Omar.

Cagara is also commander of the anti-terror Joint Task Force Central, which is helping oversee the Army's efforts to restrain the few remaining members of the BIFF and its ally, the Dawlah Islamiya, now both non-functional, from moving around the provinces and cities in Central Mindanao.

Ardiente said residents of Tupi, their local government unit and South Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo, Jr., presiding chairperson of the multi-sector Regional Peace and Order Council 12, covering four cities and four provinces in Region 12, were also instrumental in locating Onsek and Omar in Barangay Bunao.

Local executives in Maguindanao del Sur province in the Bangsamoro region and in the nearby South Cotabato, comprised of 10 municipalities and Koronadal City, its capital, told reporters that Onsek is expert in fabrication of improvised explosive devices using either ammonium nitrate, or potassium chlorate as blasting charges.