3 killed as feuding village chiefs break peace

COTABATO CITY—At least three people were killed when clashes between followers of two feuding village chairs of Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao, erupted anew, authorities said.

The new clashes took place barely two weeks after Duma Ugayan and Jerry Macalay met inside a military camp in Maguindanao and agreed to bury the hatchet.

Col. Prudencio Asto, spokesperson of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said authorities were determining what triggered Thursday’s bloody confrontation between the groups of Ugayan and Macalay.

Asto said some 2,000 families fled villages near the clash site.

Ugayan, chair of Barangay Malipodok, and Macalay, chair of Barangay Tabungao, have been fighting over land.

When their groups clashed in December, three people were also killed and about 10,000 others displaced from at least seven other villages.

On Feb. 16, upon the intercession of local religious leaders and the military, Ugayan and Macalay swore before the Koran to end their bloody confrontation.

“They shook hands and embraced each other,” said Col. Mayoralgo dela Cruz of the Army’s First Mechanized Brigade.

Asto said the military thought the violence had ended with the peace pact until the two groups clashed again.

Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu said unless addressed with finality, the feud between Ugayan and Macalay could affect peace talks between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Ugayan is an erstwhile Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) commander while Macalay has relatives and supporters from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The two village chairs said their feud has nothing to do with the MNLF and the MILF because it started from killings involving conflicting land claims in the villages of Mileb, Baital, Gaunan, Panadtaban and Sapakan. Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao