Villagers flee as Maguindanao feud continues unabated

COTABATO CITY, Philippines—Sporadic clashes between followers of the feuding bothers Andy and Utto Montawal were continuing and more villagers in the municipality bearing their family name in Maguindanao were fleeing their homes, a military official said Tuesday.

Colonel Benjamin Hao, commander of the 7th Infantry Battalion, said he could not say how many villagers had been displaced since the fighting erupted last week but many villages were now empty.

“This is infighting between the two brothers that has affected ordinary people’s lives,” Hao said.

He said efforts were continuing to bring the two siblings to terms to end their dispute, whose origins remained a mystery.

Utto is the mayor of the town of Datu Montawal while Andy is a former barangay official.

Hao said more soldiers had been deployed in Datu Montawal to prevent more skirmishes from occurring.

“The local police in Datu Montawal has requested for troops augmentation as sporadic fighting between followers of Datu Montawal Mayor Utto Montawal and his heavily armed brother Andy continue to occur,” he said.

Hao said the dispute could have been settled long ago had Andy only agreed to talk.

“Mayor Montawal is very willing to sit down and settle differences with his brother in a peaceful manner but Datu Andy could not be found when soldiers and Muslim religious leaders tried to reach him,” he said.

But a source said Andy could be evading the authorities because there is a standing warrant for his arrest for allegedly raping two students of the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato.

In the past, he was also linked to kidnapping activities perpetrated by the Pentagon gang.