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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Mindanao devider Peace monitor alarmed by violence in Maguindanao del Sur

Peace monitor alarmed by violence in Maguindanao del Sur

Published Apr 1, 2026 09:59 pm
CCA FB page
CCA FB page
DAVAO CITY – Peace monitor Climate Conflict Action is alarmed over the recent attacks against government forces in Maguindanao del Sur.
In a statement on Tuesday, March 31, CCA said that these are a shameful stain on the Bangsamoro peace process and a stark reminder of the utter failures of the decommissioning and normalization aspects of the political settlement.
“A surge in ambush attacks and revenge killings targeting State security forces blows the whistle on a new round of vertical violence and its steep rise in the first quarter of the new year,” the CCA said.
CCA emphasized that the causal root of violence did not just uncover the combined onslaught of violent extremism but also the near collapse of the post-conflict normalization process and the humiliation and shaming of authors and advocates.
Five police officers were killed and three were wounded in an ambush on March 28 in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur.
Police said they have persons of interest but the CCA said that the ambush could be a continuation of the rido or clan war between two prominent groups in the area.
The CCA said the ambush was well-planned, adding that the ferocity showed that it was most likely a revenge killing rather than a chance encounter.
The 6th Infantry Division said that members of a private armed group operating within Shariff Aguak are the likely perpetrators.
On Wednesday, April 1, a roadside explosion missed police officers in Rajah Buayan in Maguindanao del Sur.
A police corporal was killed in an ambush in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur hours before the incident in Shariff Aguak.
Last January, Shariff Aguak Mayor Akmad Ampatuan Sr. survived an ambush in the población area.
The suspects, who are said to be members of a local armed group, used a rocket-propelled grenade during the broad daylight attack.
The CCA suggested that the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a Maguindanao branch of the Dawlah Islamiyah (DI) extremist group, was behind the attack.
Police said the ambush could be a retaliation for the successful series of operations that resulted in the arrest and seizure of high-powered firearms and ammunition by security forces since October 2025.
The CCA said that their Critical Events Monitoring System (CEMS) has recorded 13 violent attacks against security forces and 15 violent incidents involving Moro Islamic Liberation Front-affiliated actors and groups in the first quarter of 2026 in Maguindanao del Sur and some parts of the Special Geographic Area of the BARMM. These were said to be due to rido.
"If this was indeed related to DI, it represents a repeat of the shaming tactics that helped fuel the mobilization of the youth to join their ranks during the war in Marawi," CCA said.
"It neither helps that the narratives of blatant corruption in the BARMM now coincide with investigations of massive flood control corruption rocking the central Philippine government itself. It is fueling uncertainty and insecurity amongst the Moro youth, discrediting the actions of the BARMM and sowing doubt about the future of the CAB."

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