2,000 families flee from clashes

Clashes between armed followers of two barangay leaders forced some 2,000 families or about 10,000 people from seven villages to flee to the town center of Rajah Buayan in Maguindanao on Sunday.

The latest violence was brought about by a dispute between Duma Ugayan, chair of Barangay Malipodok, and Jerry Macalay, chair of Barangay Baital, according to Zamzamin Ampatuan, chair of Barangay Poblacion who also heads the town’s association of barangay captains.

Ampatuan said the clashes only stopped when soldiers from the Army’s 1st Mechanized Brigade arrived.

While the root of the dispute between Ugayan and Macalay was not yet clear, Ampatuan said it could have stemmed from a squabble over territorial or political control. “We are still in the process of verification, which we expect to obtain during the peace meeting,” Ampatuan said.

Ugayan is a former member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Lieutenant Colonel Marvin Licodine, commander of the 45th Infantry Battalion, said, citing military intelligence records. The MNLF signed a peace accord with the government in 1996, but its members were never disarmed.

Firearms, whether legal or illegal, are in the possession of influential Maguindanao residents, who are also in some ways, engaged in disputes, a military source said.

Buayan Mayor Jacob Ampatuan said social workers had been deployed to the affected villages to assess the needs of the evacuees.

Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said disputes between families should be addressed to the courts and not in the battlefields. He appealed to them to shy away from violence.

“We will never grow and enjoy life unless we learn to forgive and allow the justice system to work. Unity and reconciliation is the call of the time,” he said.  Charlie C. Señase, Inquirer Mindanao