Mindanao Peace Process

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao - Soldiers have collected 97 firearms from supporters of the New People’s Army and Dawlah Islamiya in Maitum town and nearby areas in the past three months, a regional Army official said Thursday.

The firearms were voluntarily turned in by owners through the intercession of the Army’s 38^th Infantry Battalion and officials of the 603^rd Infantry Brigade, according to Major Gen. Juvymax Uy of the 6^th Infantry Division.

AMPATUAN, Maguindanao  – Eleven outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) have separately surrendered voluntarily on separate occasions to the Army units under the First Mechanized Infantry Brigade based in Maguindanao.

On Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m., Lt. Colonel Cresencio Sanchez, 1^st Mechanized Infantry Battalion commander, presented the four BIFF fighters during ceremonies witnessed by Mayor Marop Ampatuan of Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Five supportive barangay chairmen of the municipality of Pikit, North Cotabato helped in the campaign against loose firearms program of the government by turning over five high-powered firearms and crew-serve weapons to the military at Pikit Municipal Hall on July 16, 2021.

Surrendered firearms and crew-serve weapons were one (1) 7.62 M14, one M79, one (1) RPG, one (1) Cal .50mm and one (1) 60mm mortar.

COTABATO CITY - The city’s police community relation unit is embarking on massive village-based engagements to effectively combat drugs trade and terrorism at community level.

Such is the advocacy pushed by the Police Community Affairs and Development Group (PCADG) under its director, P/BGen Joselito Daniel, according to its local units here.

MAGUINDANAO --- Three supporters of a former town mayor surrendered assault rifles to the police Monday in support of the government’s disarmament campaign in the Bangsamoro region.

Brig. Gen. Eden Ugale, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, said Tuesday Abby Aguak, Pendatun Ampatuan and Gani Macmod turned in their firearms through the intercession of local officials in Shariff Aguak and the Maguindanao provincial police.

NORTH COTABATO --- Barangay officials in Midsayap town voluntarily turned over Tuesday to the military 18 firearms in support of the government’s disarmament campaign in troubled southern provinces.

The cache --- a 5.56 Bushmaster, two M14 assault rifles, a .30 caliber Garand, five bolt-action rifles of different calibers, an M79 grenade launcher, a 12 gauge shotgun, five .45 caliber pistols and a .38 revolver --- were surrendered by 10 barangay officials to Brig. Gen. Roberto Capulong.

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao  – The communist movement in Sultan Kudarat continues to decline and becoming non-essential as more and more rebels denounced the communist rebels and surrendered.

After 21 New Peoples’ Army (NPA) yielded to the Army in Lebak, 13 NPAs also followed suit in nearby Kalamansig, both in Sultan Kudarat.

On Wednesday afternoon, the rebels who are members of Sub-Regional Command (SRC) - Daguma under Far South Mindanao Region, surrendered to the military’s 37th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Kalamansig with their firearms.

SULTAN KUDARAT --- Enticed by how former comrades got reintegrated into mainstream society, 21 members of the New People’s Army surrendered in Lebak town on Tuesday morning.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, commander of the Army’s 6^th Infantry Division, said the 21 rebels yielded through the intercession of Col. Eduardo Gubat of the 603^rd Infantry Brigade and local officials in Lebak, a seaside town in Sultan Kudarat province.

The group turned over assorted firearms to Gubat in the presence of Lebak municipal officials.  

MAGUINDANAO --- There is this “arms-to-farms” initiative supported by the World Food Programme converting into productive agricultural enclaves the lands where Moro rebels and government forces had fought deadly battles.

The WFP, known as the “food assistance branch” of the United Nations, is the world’s largest provider of food for communities in conflict and calamity-stricken areas.

MAGUINDANAO – Six more members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters surrendered to the military Tuesday.

The six men, names withheld pending relocation to safe areas, pledged allegiance to the government after renouncing their membership with the BIFF at the headquarters of the Army’s 1^st Mechanized Brigade in Barangay Kamasi in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.