14 more Dawlah members surrender to Army in Maguindanao del Sur

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June 23, 2026 | 5:48pm

COTABATO CITY — Another group from the now-defunct Dawlah Islamiya turned over firearms and improvised explosive devices to an Army unit and pledged allegiance to the government during a symbolic ceremony on Sunday, June 21.

The 14 terrorists renounced their membership with the Dawlah Islamiya during a surrender ceremony at the headquarters of the 38th Infantry Battalion in Barangay Buayan, Datu Piang town, Maguindanao del Sur. The event was attended by local executives, provincial police officials and representatives from agencies of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which will help reintegrate them into mainstream society.

Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of the Army's 6th Infantry Division, told reporters on Tuesday, June 23, that the 14 former extremists agreed to avail of themselves of the government's reconciliation program for violent religious extremists through the joint intercession of Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, commander of the 601st Infantry Brigade, officials of the 38th IB, led by Lt. Col. Erwin Felongco, local executives from different towns in Maguindanao del Sur and Muslim religious leaders helping maintain peace and order in the province.

Cagara said BARMM Chief Minister Abdulrauf Macacua, and the 6th ID are cooperating to secure, through backchannel talks, the surrender of all remaining members of the Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, both of which have been tagged in deadly bombings in Central Mindanao since 2014.

Cagara said Sunday's surrender event was partly capped off with the turnover of 41 combat weapons to the 38th IB by residents of Maguindanao del Sur towns of Datu Piang, Datu Salibo and Shariff Saydona, including 40-millimeter grenade and B40 rocket launchers, long-range bolt-action sniper rifles and two mortars, in compliance with the Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Management Program of the division and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity.

Four of the Dawlah Islamiya terrorists who surrendered on Sunday, Mansoor Ali Guiabar, Samsudin Kalna Oro, Manduh Salik Isang and Mohammad Kasim Buntas, are experts in fabrication of IEDs using either ammonium nitrate, or potassium chlorate as blasting charges, rigged with battery-operated detonators that can be triggered remotely using mobile phones.

Cagara told reporters that the 14 terrorists first turned over a dozen IEDs, along with their assault rifles and B40 rocket launchers, to Catu and Felongco before pledging allegiance to the government and promising to help officials of the 6th ID convince remnants of the now-defunct Dawlah Islamiya to return to the fold of law so they can be reunited with their families.

The 6th ID, the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region, local government units, regional officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Region 12, BARMM's public order and safety and social services ministries have jointly facilitated the reintegration into the local communities of more than 2,000 Dawlah Islamiya and BIFF members who surrendered in batches over the past seven years.

All of them are now living peacefully in their hometowns as laborers in public markets, drivers and conductors of passenger vehicles, construction company workers, community watchmen by local government units, farmers and fishermen belonging to livelihood cooperatives.