Negotiations are underway for the surrender of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters involved in an ambush incident in Basilan province last month, according to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief, General Romeo Brawner Jr., on Wednesday.

In an impromptu interview at Camp Crame in Quezon City, Brawner also confirmed that efforts to apprehend the perpetrators of the deadly attack in Barangay Cabengbeng, Municipality of Sumisip, on 22 February are ongoing.

The military was providing security for United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) personnel conducting validation missions and stakeholder coordination under the Modelling Livelihood Initiatives project when a group of lawless elements launched a sudden attack on the civilian convoy.

These unidentified assailants, some of whom were MILF members, fired upon the troops and the convoy. They also set fire to a military KM450 truck, resulting in the deaths of two soldiers and 12 others being wounded in action.

“Our negotiations with them are continuous,” Brawner said when asked whether the MILF is willing to surrender some of the fighters involved in the clash. He also confirmed that the AFP has filed a formal protest against the MILF members implicated in the incident.

“We are following the peace mechanisms. We have peace mechanisms in place, and we’ve filed a protest against the MILF members involved in the ambush of our troops in Basilan,” he added.

The ambush occurred amid the ongoing normalization process in the Bangsamoro region and the MILF’s decommissioning program for its former combatants. Mohagher Iqbal, chairperson of the MILF’s Peace Implementing Panel, previously suggested that the clash may have been triggered by a lack of coordination between the two groups.

However, Brawner emphasized that the mission was “well-coordinated” by the Joint Peace and Security Committee (JPSC) under the Joint Normalization Committee, as well as local leaders in the area.

“We want to ensure that there was coordination from the top down to the lower units. The Joint Normalization Committee’s letter was distributed to many recipients, including both government and MILF sides. So there was prior coordination,” Brawner explained.

Brawner also stated that the AFP will maintain its current troop deployment in Basilan in light of the incident.

“We were considering pulling out a unit from there, but because of what happened, we’ve decided not to withdraw for now,” he said.

Additionally, Brawner indicated that the military is considering deploying additional troops to the region as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) elections have been deferred to a later date by Congress.

“We signed a solidarity pledge, and we promised as an organization that the AFP will assist in ensuring that the 2025 national and BARMM elections will be peaceful and secure,” Brawner said, adding that more soldiers will also be deployed nationwide.

“We are deputized by the Commission on Elections to assist in the national elections,” he continued.

Moreover, Brawner affirmed that the AFP will support the Philippine National Police in securing a safe and peaceful election at polling precincts and centers. He also pledged the AFP’s assistance in dismantling private armed groups as the 2025 midterm elections approach.