CEBU CITY—Some Christians are arming themselves against extremists in Southern Philippines because they are getting increasingly “desperate,” Jolo Bishop Angelito Lampon said Friday.
Lampon said the militant organization “Red God Soldiers,” whose members brandished firearms while burning a flag of the Islamic State, may have grown out of frustration and fear.
“This is a kind of desperate attempt by these Christians who are being attacked now and then by these armed groups,” said Lampon who is currently in Cebu for the bishops’ plenary assembly and the International Eucharistic Congress.
In an apparent show of force, around 300 members of the armed Christian group on Tuesday showed their firearms, as they vowed to drive Moro renegades from their communities.
The group also burned a flag of the Islamic State and condemned recent attacks by the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, a splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Police officials said the BIFF was behind the spate of deadly attacks on civilian communities last month in Mindanao and had pledged allegiance to IS militants in the Middle East.
The militiamen said they are ready to fight the BIFF for the sake of their families, communities, and in the name of self-defense.
According to the prelate, he sees the uprising among Christian community as a way of calling on the government to address their problem.
“If the government troops can defend civilians whether they are Muslims or Christians, then I think it will not come to this,” added Lampon.
“If only there’s enough security for them, I think they will not take up arms. But if they feel helpless, I guess it’s their form of self-defense,” he said.
After months of denial, the military had confirmed the presence of foreign jihadists in Mindanao and vowed to step up its search for four Indonesian jihadists amid increased terror activities in Southeast Asia.
Military sources identified the four as Arsyad Sagoni, 43; Suwito Tujimon, 23, Anuar Yancong, 27; and Amir Nanggi, 43, all Buginese Indonesians who fled Sulawesi after Jakarta cracked down on Islamic militants with apparent links to international terror group IS.
The source said the military had already known of the presence of the four Indonesians in Mindanao even before Indonesian militant Sucipto Ibrahim Ali, alias Abdul Fatah, was killed in a clash with soldiers in Sultan Kudarat last November.
The military said at that time that Sucipto is known to be a member of the Mujahidin Indonesia Timur and slipped into the country with other foreigners and are now hiding with members of Ansar al-Khilafah Philippines, a new group of jihadists in Mindanao.
But the military insisted that the presence of these foreign jihadists in Mindanao did not mean that the terror group Islmic State of Iraq and Syria had already had already established a presence in the country.
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hernando Irriberi himself confirmed that the military is looking for nine foreign terrorists, among them five Malaysian jihadists, who are believed to be hidingn with extremists in Mindanao.
The Malaysians were identified as University Malaya lecturer Mahmud bin Ahmad, former Selayang Municipal Council employee Muhammad Joraimee Bin Awang Raimee, Mohammad Amin Baco and Jeknal bin Adil.
Malaysian authorities had asked government officials to tracked the whereabouts of their wanted compatriots who sought sanctuary in Mindanao shortly after IS had recruited them to join the Islamic militant group.