DAVAO CITY, Philippines?Clan wars, OR rido, in Muslim communities make peace harder to attain in Mindanao, according to a study funded by Malacañang.

The study, conducted by Konsult Mindanao and commissioned by the Bishops-Ulama Conference, said these ?unique sources of conflicts? in Muslim communities further complicate the peace process.

The results of the study, conducted with 5,000 respondents, were presented to President Macapagal-Arroyo last week.

Fr. Albert Alejo, Konsult Mindanao project manager, said clan war makes conflict in Mindanao ?very complicated.?

Aside from fighting a separatist war in the battlefield, government soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels are also drawn into clan wars because of their relatives.

Similar study

The findings of Konsult Mindanao were also validated by a similar study made by two university professors here.

In their study, entitled ?Forecasting the Incidence of Violent Disputes in the (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao)?, Dr. Edmundo Prantilla and Dr. Edgardo Cruz of the University of Southern Philippines said the two main triggers of rido are weapons and deaths in a dispute.

Prantilla said data from a survey of the Gerry Roxas Foundation (GRF), a US-funded project launched in 1998 to promote good governance and rule of law, were used in his and Cruz?s study.

Weapons and death

The two professors? study said out of 2,784 cases of dispute, 1,000, or 36 percent, escalated into rido.

In 68 percent of the cases, according to the survey, which the professors used for their study, the death of a protagonist led to rido. In 53 percent of the cases, rido is triggered when feuding clans are armed.

Some of the most common causes of rido were land conflict and issues related to women.

Aside from rido, Alejo said many Mindanaons also strongly consider election fraud as being ?linked to war.?

Also identified as sources of conflict are arms trade, illegal drug production and distribution, and warlordism.

Mining factor

In the regions of Caraga, Northern Mindanao, Zamboanga, the Southern Mindanao region, mining is blamed for conflicts.

?The people are really alarmed over the entry and operations of mining companies in their areas,? said Alejo.

The government and the MILF have entered into a new ceasefire agreement to pave the way for peace talks to resume.

Just recently, negotiators signed an agreement to spare civilians from the fighting. Jeffrey Tupas and Judy Quiros, Inquirer Mindanao