COTABATO CITY — The provincial government of Maguindanao is seeking help from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to support the military in protecting Teduray lumads from harassment by outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu proposed the idea during Wednesday’s meeting of Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) members in Buluan, Maguindanao, where the plight of some 800 Teduray families was prominently discussed.
Mangudadatu concurrently chairs the PPOC composed of military, police, academe, religious, and local government representatives, among others.
Since last month, the IS-inspired BIFF has been harassing Teduray communities in Mt. Firis, situated in the tri-boundary of Datu Unsay, Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Datu Hofer towns, killing two of the natives and dislodging more than 800 families from the upland villages.
Mt. Firis is the ancestral domain of ethnic Tedurays in Maguindanao.
Mangudadatu said he believed that the joint ceasefire committee of the government and the MILF could help secure Mt. Firis, an area sacred for the Teduray tribes people.
For the past several months, the MILF had been helping the military in the campaign against the BIFF in the “SPMS Box” which refers to the adjoining towns of Shariff Aguak, Pagatin (Datu Saudi), Mamasapano and Salibo.
The area is a known bailiwick of the BIFF.
“The ongoing peace process between the government and the MILF is an inclusive kind of peace initiative, one that will benefit Mindanao’s Muslim, Christian and Lumad communities,” Mangudadatu said.
With this, he said there was ample reason for both sides to work together in protecting the Teduray communities from the BIFF.
Army officials said the BIFF wanted to regain control of Hill 224, more known among the lumads as Mt. Firis, because it was there that the BIFF was officially organized by its late founding chair, Ombra Kato.
Mangudadatu said that the joint Army and MILF offensives against the BIFF in August last year had been successful. The BIFF tried, but failed, to raise the ISIS flag in areas identified with the MILF.
A roadside bomb set off by the BIFF killed MILF fighters, triggering a month-long on and off gunbattle until the Army and MILF joined forces against the local terrorists’ organization.
Sr. Supt. Agustin Tello, Maguindanao police director, welcomed Mangudadatu’s proposal and vowed to provide the necessary manpower and resources to help the Army neutralize the BIFF.
Mangudadatu is awaiting response from the MILF leadership. He has scheduled a meeting with the MILF’s Al Mansour Gambar, chief of the group’s military arm.
Considered to be part of the government, the MILF had been providing the Army with intelligence information in its campaign against kidnappers, gunrunners and local terrorist groups.
To date, at least 12 BIFF, two soldiers and two civilians were killed in the fighting that emanated from Mt. Firis that also drove away Teduray lumads, leaving their farm produce and valuables in the process.
They are currently housed in various evacuation sites and being attended to by the Maguindanao provincial government. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
