Mindanao Peace Process

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Another ten (10) demoralized NPA rebels bringing along nine (9) firearms surrendered to security forces under Joint Task Force Central in Palimbang Sultan Kudarat on the morning of December 15, 2021.

The Commander of Joint Task Force Central and 6th Infantry Division, Maj. Gen. Juvymax Uy, laud the decision of the former NPA rebels to abandon the communist terrorist organization and choose a peaceful life with their families and with the community.

CAMP SK PENDATUN, Maguindanao - Efforts from personnel of Maguindanao Police Provoncial Office in line with the PNP's intensified campaign against loose firearms in preparation to a peaceful and orderly National and Local Election 2022 yielded further success as four (4) high powered loose firearms were voluntary surrendered at the Sultan Sa Barongis Police Station on December 11, 2021.

NORTH UPI, Maguindanao - Fourteen more members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters surrendered to the Army’s 57^th Infantry Battalion here Monday.

The 14 BIFF members, who turned a dozen assault rifles, four fragmentation grenades and a 60 millimeter mortar, pledged allegiance to the government through the intercession of local leaders and officials of the 57^th B.

Their names were withheld pending their relocation to areas far from reach of their hardcore companions.

ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat  – The military in Sultan Kudarat see the continuous diminishing of communist rebels’ strength with the latest blow on the organization – the Army’s recovery of 34 high-powered firearms.

On Sunday, Lt. Colonel Romel Valencia, 7^th Infantry “Tapat” Battalion commander, said the discovery of high-powered firearms buried in a shallow graves in the mountains of Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat came after a tip from civilians.

COTABATO CITY --- Four confessed bomb couriers in the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters returned to the fold of law Monday.

Sanny Boy Satol Mamalumpong, Ato Menis Sandato, Satol Gamblay Butuan and Darang Katog pledged allegiance to the government in the presence of Col. Jovencio Gonzales of the Army’s 602^nd Infantry Brigade, officials of the 34^th Infantry Battalion and representatives from the municipal government of Midsayap, North Cotabato.

At 7 a.m. today, I and my team jumped off from Kidapawan City for a 3-hour trip to Barangay Karim, Buldon, Maguindanao, site of the main lair of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Camp Abubakar.

Ten years ago, my visit to Camp Abubakar would have been unthinkable, if not an outright suicide.

For most of the years that I was Governor of Cotabato, I was considered Enemy No. 1 by the MILF but I survived several assassination attempts.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao –  Military officials in Central Mindanao region said communist movement in the province continue to dwindle as a ranking New Peoples Army (NPA) leader and his men surrendered to the government.

In a statement Thursday, Lt. Colonel Rommel Valencia, 7^th IB commander, the ranking NPA leader and seven of his followers decided to surrender and withdrew their allegiance to the terrorist group during programs held Wednesday afternoon at the old capitol compound in Barnagay Kalawag, Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.

COTABATO CITY – Some 60 former combatants of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) from Camps Bilal and Busrah in Lanao provinces each received Php10,000 financial aid from the Ministry of Public Order and Safety’s (MPOS) Peacebuilding Towards Normalization program.
 
This intervention is intended for the vulnerable and marginalized sectors, such as the MILF combatants who did not qualify in the decommissioning program of the national government.
 

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – The military’s two-pronged approach in dealing with communist combatants in the mountains of Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat has turned out to be effective, an Army officer here said Monday.

“The two-pronged approach is a continuous military pressure against rebels, and at the same time highlighting the government’s offer for them to rejoin the mainstream society peacefully,” Lt. Col Allen Van L. Estrera, Army’s 37th Infantry Battalion (37IB) commander, told reporters here in an interview Monday.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao  – Tired of fighting the government and realizing they were duped to join armed struggle even without proper training, eight members of a communist movement who belonged to the Indigenous Peoples (IP) community in Sultan Kudarat have surrendered to military authorities Thursday.

Lieutenant Colonel Romel S Valencia, commander of the 7^th Infantry Batalion Battalion, said the New Peoples Army (NPA) also turned in 13 firearms and numerous explosives during surrender rites in Barangay Masiag, Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat.