Citations for Army units in Central Mindanao lauded

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December 24, 2025 | 4:37pm

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Local executives were elated with the president’s grant on Friday, December 19, of streamer awards to the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and its two brigades for having neutralized two terror groups and secured the surrender of hundreds of communist insurgents in Central Mindanao in recent months.

The handover by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the streamers, as special awards from the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to the 6th ID, the 601st and the 603rd Infantry Brigades during a symbolic rite at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Friday, was part of the commemoration then of the AFP's 90th founding anniversary.

Two governors in Central Mindanao, Emmylou Mendoza of Cotabato and Reynaldo Tamayo, Jr. of South Cotabato, separately told reporters on Wednesday that the 6th ID and the 601st and 603rd Infantry Brigades deserved the citation streamers that President Marcos personally attached to the official banners of the three units, in the presence of Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and military officials from across the country.

“These three big Army units covering Central Mindanao deserved those special streamer awards for having achieved remarkable accomplishments in the government’s anti-terror campaign in Region 12 and in parts of the Bangsamoro region," Mendoza, chairperson of the multi-sector Regional Development Council 12, said.

Tamayo, who is chairperson of the Regional Peace and Order Council 12, said the 6th ID, the two brigades and local government units in Region 12 and in the Bangsamoro region have jointly reintegrated into the local communities more than a thousand members of the Dawlah Islamiya and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in the past five years.

“That was laudable. The cooperation among the officers of the 6th Infantry Division and the two brigades and the local executives in the Bangsamoro provinces and in Region 12 in securing the return to the fold of law of members of both groups and the now unfunctional New People’s Army is something we are a proud of,” Tamayo said.

Brig. Gen. Michael Santos, commander of the 603rd Infantry Brigade, said on Wednesday that it was for the support of the local communities that their units have succeeded in clearing the towns being secured by their units from NPA presence.

The 601st Infantry Brigade, under Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, received a streamer award from the AFP on Friday for its its anti-terror operations in recent months in Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur, one of which resulted in the death of Muhiden Animbang, most known as “Karialan,” the top leader of the BIFF.

Units of the 601st Infantry Brigade have also worked out, with the help of LGUs, the surrender of 715 Dawlah Islamiya and BIFF terrorists in the past 36 months.

The mother-unit of both brigades, the 6th ID, whose commander is Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, also received a streamer award during Friday’s event at Camp Aguinaldo for having efficiently hosted the PHILINDO Strike V 2025 security drills, involving its officers and counterparts from military units in Indonesia, in Maguindanao del Norte early this year.

The streamer award for 6th ID that Cagara personally received was also partly for the accomplishments of the division's its anti-terror Joint Task Force Central in addressing threats from the few remaining members of the Dawlah Islamiya and BIFF and for its role in the rehabilitation of almost 2,000 terrorists from both groups who have pledged allegiance to the government, in batches,  in recent years.

Maguindanao del Norte Vice Gov. Marshall Sinsuat, who, along with members of their provincial board, is supporting the peacebuilding activities of 6th ID complementing the national government’s peace overture with Moro communities, said he and his constituents in his hometown, Datu Blah Sinsuat, are happy with the division’s having been received an AFP streamer award.

“We feel good about it because the 6th Infantry Division involves the local communities in its peacebuilding efforts in Maguindanao del Norte extensively, which is, for us, a tacit proof that it recognizes the importance of multi-sector involvement in peacebuilding activities in our province,” Sinsuat said.