Gov’t forces separates warring clans in Maguindanao

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 14, 2022): Gov’t forces separates warring clans in Maguindanao (By Edwin Fernandez)

AID FOR DISPLACED FAMILIES. Police and social welfare workers (left) distributed Monday (Feb. 14, 2022) food aid to families displaced when skirmishes between warring families erupted over the weekend. The right photo shows one of the several houses hit by bullets during the skirmishes. (Photos courtesy of resident Esmael Ula and Sultan Kudarat PNP)

SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao – Police and soldiers have separated warring families in a remote village here after they traded shots when a “rido” (clan war) erupted Sunday.

On Monday, Lt. Col. Sabri Lakibul, Sultan Kudarat municipal police station chief, said the warring families of local “Commander Gringo” and “Commander Barang” have agreed to a cessation of hostilities.

The government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) ceasefire panel are negotiating with both sides for a diplomatic solution to their existing dispute.

This gave the opportunity for the municipal social welfare office and the local police to extend aid to some 100 families displaced by the armed conflict in Barangay Sinditan.

Police said the warring families have traded shots Sunday due to a long-standing land dispute.

Police are determining if followers of both groups all belonged to the MILF or any other groups.

Major Gen. Juvymax Uy, Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander, appealed Monday to local officials to help defuse the tension so displaced families can return home.

Police assisted Faudzia Mocsin, Sultan Kudarat municipal social welfare officer, and Kadil Blaim, municipal disaster officer, in the distribution of food aid to the displaced families who were from the villages of Limbo, Calsada, and Mulaog, all in this town.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1167763