Coordinate with BIFF in project implementation? No way, says Army

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao - The military or the government do not need to coordinate with any lawless group to implement a project, Army Capt. Joann Petinglay said today.Petinglay, speaking for the 6th Infantry Division, said the government implementing a flagship project in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao needs no clearance from a terrorist group which reportedly pledge allegiance to a terrorist ISIS group.Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) through its spokesperson Abu Misri Mamasaid the contractor of a dredging project in Barangay Butalo, Datu Salibo, Maguindanao did not coordinate with them so we torched the back hoe and shot soldiers securing the project site. The BIFF is showing its true color, it is against development that will benefit everyone in Datu Salibo, including their own relatives, Petinglay told DXMS Radyo Bida.Two soldiers, Army Capt. Jimmy Amoloy, commander of 22nd Mechanized Company and a certain PFC Robles were injured in the BIFF harassment. Misri claimed five soldiers died in the clashes which Petinglay denied.Mama warned his group will shoot anyone from the construction firm or the military who will push with the development project. We are not anti-development, we just want the claims of landowners are addressed, he said in justifying attacks against government forces.Sporadic fire fight was still going on in Datu Salibo, a marshy area in Maguindanao that is regularly flooded.