Feuding clans in Cotabato town sign pact to end bloodshed

ENDOF ‘RIDO’ The Bantas clan, led by Maka Bantas, signed the pact on March 31 to end the two-year-long “rido” (clan war) with the Ali clan in the villages of M’lang town, Cotabato province. —WILLIAMOR MAGBANUA

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Cotabato, Philippines — After six deaths in the last two years, two feuding Moro clans in the villages of M’lang town in Cotabato province finally agreed to put an end to the killings that claimed the lives of each other’s family members and relatives.

M’lang Mayor Russel Abonado said he met the town’s Muslim Council of Elders and representatives of the feuding Ali and Bantas clans on March 31, asking them to end more than two years of “rido” (clan war) and warning them that if violence continued, the parties would face the full force of the law.

5 dead

The M’lang police reported that at least five members of the feuding Ali and Bantas clans have died in a series of retaliatory shooting incidents at Barangay Dunguan and Población area in the last two years in a web of violence that even prompted some of their relatives to flee. Police said the sixth victim was a tricycle driver mistaken to be a relative of one of the feuding parties.

In a conference, the clans agreed to stop shooting at each other as long as the person suspected of killing their kin would not be allowed to roam the villages of his victim, Abonado said.

Abonado said the dispute started in 2018, when former village councilor Dido Ali of Barangay Dunguan was shot dead in his own village allegedly by a member of the other clan. The mayor said the suspect of the killing was allegedly Roy Bantas, who had a feud with the victim.

A few days after Ali’s killing, Bantas’ elder brother was killed, allegedly by one of Ali’s family members.

This was followed by the killing of Ali’s relative Macapasar Lamponi.

“The killing claimed three more lives from among the feuding Ali and Bantas clans and their relatives,” the mayor said.

The incidents alarmed the local police and town officials as another shooting occurred in Barangay Población in March this year. But the victims, who were tricycle drivers, were only mistaken to be members of one of the clans. One of the tricycle drivers died instantly while the other was rushed to the nearby M’lang District Hospital.

In a meeting with Abonado and Vice Mayor Joselito Piñol, the clans agreed to stop the violence but with some restrictions.

Pledge before the Quran

The Ali clan and their relatives, the Lamponis, asked that Roy Bantas, suspected for the killing of their kin should not be allowed to roam Barangay Dunguan, where the clan lived. But they assured other members of the Bantas clan and the Abings, their relatives, were welcome in the village any time of the day.

The Bantas clan pledged before the Quran to follow the agreement.

Abonado said both parties agreed to reconcile to prevent more bloodshed and save the lives of family members.

He said he would apply the full force of the law if either clan disobeyed the pact.

“I know these people are armed,” said Abonado. “If they violate the agreement, I will order the police to arrest and file charges in court,” he said.

—WILLIAMOR MAGBANUA