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Philippine gov't pledges to pursue BIFF militants

Xinhua, December 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Philippine government vowed Saturday to go after the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) who made separate attacks and killed nine civilians on Christmas Eve in three Mindanao provinces.

Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, government peace panel head negotiating with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines, said the nine civilians were "summarily executed."

"The BIFF's sporadic attacks across the three provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, and North Cotabato -- including the firing of grenades at a local chapel and an army detachment, hostage-taking, and planting of improvised explosives, indicate an attempt to gain momentum for their bid to destabilize the situation in these areas and garner attention for themselves and their flagging cause," she said.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., quoting military spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla, said the BIFF lightning raids and harassment were still expected following losses incurred in earlier military operations conducted during the last few weeks.

He said the BIFF, the splinter group of the MILF, intended to show that they are not yet a spent force following recent debacles.

"The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) however has kept these activities localized with its ongoing military operations to hunt down BIFF elements who have perpetrated the recent criminal acts," the official stressed.

The BIFF, founded by former MILF commander Ameril Umbra Kato, broke away from the MILF in late 2010 after the latter dropped its call for an independent Islamic state and in March 2014 forged a comprehensive peace deal with the Philippine government. Endit