A number of Muslim youth from Davao, Philippines were among the 200 recruits who left the country last month to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), according to Davao city mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte.

The youth are believed to be members of the Khalifa Islamiah Mindanao, Business World Online reported.

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The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has dismissed reports of such incidents occurring, but Duterte said a credible source confirmed the involvement of Davao youths in the ISIS.

Earlier, former Philippine president Fidel V. Ramos told media he believed about 100 Filipinos were training with the ISIS in the Middle East and to assist in its efforts to establish a caliphate in the region.

Meanwhile, Mindanao-based militant group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) declared on Friday it had formed an alliance with the ISIS.

The alliance, according to BIFM spokesperson Abu Misry Mama, was formalized by the ISIS' Islamic Supreme Court Council head Kuti and BIFM Political Affairs Vice Chair Sheikh Ismail Abu Bakr.

During the partnership talks, both Kuti and Abu Bakr reportedly spoke with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the ISIS' self-declared caliph or leader of the Islamic State, the Philippine broadsheet Inquirer relayed.

"In the alliance, we have agreed that we are brothers under the same sky... that if one finger is hurt the entire body will feel the pain," said Mama.

But he added that while the partnership may benefit the BIFM financially, it would not ask the ISIS for money. Mama claimed the group is supported by a number of politicians and businessmen who believe in their cause.

 In reference to Ramos' claims of Filipino Muslims training in Iraq and Syria, Mama said the BIFM did not need to send its men abroad, adding that the training exercises being conducted in Mindanao is more than enough for its fighters.

When asked for the group's position with regard to the recent beheading of American journalist James Foley, Mama speculated the act was done under strict Islamic principles.

"You cannot just cut hands and heads because you want to," Mama said, adding that before carrying out such an act, it must go through a strict judicial process.

He cited an instance in September 2013, when then-BIFM Political Affairs Vice Chair Muhammad Ali Tambako had been dismissed from the group for the needless beheading of a police officer.

Mama explained that while the police officer had been a legitimate target, the beheading was not necessary for the man was already dead.

TagsBangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement, ISIS recruitment, Filipino rebels, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi