AN ABU Sayyaf bandit has surrendered to government authorities amid the continuous military offensive against them in Sulu, officials announced Wednesday, January 9.

Abdulbaki Boyohan, 53, surrendered around 9 a.m. Tuesday to Lieutenant Colonel Ronaldo Mateo, Philippine Army 32nd Infantry Battalion (IB) commander, in Camp Bud Datu in the village of Tagbak, Indanan, Sulu.

Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana, Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) information officer, said Boyohan belongs to the group of Abu Sayyaf leader Idang Susukan.

Boyohan turned over an M-79 grenande launcher and ammunition.

Besana said Boyohan is the father of former Abu Sayyaf members namely Ban Baki Rajili and Padi Kali, who surrendered to the 32nd IB troops on December 22, 2018.

Mateo later presented Boyohan to Colonel Rodrigo Gregorio, deputy commander of the Army’s 501st Infantry Brigade in Camp Bud Datu.

Lieutenant General Arnel Dela Vega, Westmincom chief, said they hope the story of Boyohan and his two sons encourages other Abu Sayyaf bandits to surrender and end the decades of terror in Sulu.

“We hope to see more returnees reunite with their families and start their new lives away from battlegrounds. Indeed, this is a resonating call for the rest of the Abu Sayyaf bandits to lay down their arms and to consider the lives that were affected,” Dela Vega said.