MALITBOG, Bukidnon, (PNA) — An undetermined number of individuals who claimed to be members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) surrendered “en masse” to officials in Malitbog, Bukidnon, a town official said on Monday.
Malitbog Vice Mayor Gary Casino said that the surrenderors were unarmed MNLF members from the farming village of Abyawan, Barangay Siloo, a faraway hinterland area accessible via the neighboring town of Manolo Fortich.
Casino said that the MNLF members surrendered their ID cards as a symbolic gesture showing that they no longer want to be identified as members of the MNLF.
The mass surrender came after a warrant arrest was issued against MNLF founding chairman Nur Misuari following the MNLF attack in Zamboanga City recently.
Casino said that the MNLF members had sent out surrender feelers and were fetched by a government vehicle to be brought to the municipal center where they surrendered officially to the Philippine National Police.
He said that the surrenderors were most likely under MNLF Commander Amir Alibug. The names of the surrenderors were not made available, Casino said.
The military said that they would be monitoring the movement and activities of the MNLF surrenderos.