Gov’t troops nab 5 people during assault on BIFF lair in Maguindanao

Government soldiers arrested five people and seized firearms in a raid at dawn on Friday in a town in Maguindanao.

Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc, commanding officer of the 33rd Infantry Battalion, said that the raid by the combined elements of the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force took place in Paglat town at about 5:30 a.m.

Troops targeted  the lair of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters faction of Sindatok Dilna a.k.a. "Motolite," a known associate of BIFF's Gani Saligan.

Law enforcement operatives stormed the identified hiding places of  notorious personalities in Barangay Tual.

Also, Cabunoc said that the suspects did not resist arrest upon seeing that they were overwhelmed by the security forces.

“We handcuffed five suspects and interrogated them in the presence of local government officials who witnessed the operations.” 

Recovered during the assault were three firearms, including one Caliber 5.56mm AR 18 Armalite rifle and two M1911A1 Cal .45 hand guns.

The suspects were brought to 33rd IB headquarters for further questioning.

Political armed groups

Cabunoc said that Maguindanao's hinterland areas have become the hiding places for terrorists and political armed groups.

“We have been alerted by the intrusion of alleged members of ISIS-inspired jihadists who mixed with the local population especially with the political armed groups in the area. We will not allow them to dominate a particular terrain in my area of operation in order to protect the gains of our past security operations here,” said Cabunoc.

At present, the Army is working closely with local authorities in convincing people to hand over loose firearms to demonstrate their support to President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to collect illegal weapons that proliferate in Mindanao. —LBG, GMA News