3 BIFF 'protection money' collectors yield

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Three more members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighter, from a group collecting protection money from traders, surrendered to the Army Friday.

The three men, whose names were withheld pending relocation to safe areas, also turned in an M1 Garand rifle and two .30 caliber Carbine rifles to officials of the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion during a simple surrender rite in Radjah Buayan town in Maguindanao del Sur.

The BIFF has a reputation for attacking members who have returned to the fold of law and their families.

Major Gen. Roy Galido, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said Saturday the three BIFF members agreed to surrender through the efforts of the 33rd IB and local officials in Radjah Buayan led by Mayor Yacob Ampatuan.

The three men told reporters present in the event that they are from a BIFF group that collected “protection money,” on a regular basis, from members of the business community in Maguindanao del Sur.

The BIFF and its allies, Dawlah Islamiya and Al-Khobar, are known for bombing public conveyances and commercial establishments if owners refuse to shell out money.

 “We shall reintegrate these three former BIFF members to mainstream society,” Galido said.

Units of 6th ID in Maguindanao, Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat provinces have secured the surrender of 178 BIFF, Dawlah Islamiya and Al-Khobar members in the past 10 months.

More than 50 of them were experts in fabrication of improvised explosive devices who have confessed to their involvement in extortion activities.