3,000 flee as war looms between Moro reb factions

MATALAM, North Cotabato—Close to 3,000 people from three villages here have fled their homes as clashes between rival Moro rebel groups continued despite a truce.

More soldiers have been sent to the village of Marbel where Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) forces are separated only by an 800-meter wide river.

Maguid Hussein, a community leader in the village of Kilada, said evacuees, mostly women and children, sought refuge in his village starting on Monday, bringing with them their farm animals.

Chief Insp. Elias Dandan, Matalam police chief, said the situation was volatile. “We are in between them,” said Dandan.

“The situation is normal at day time, but at night time, the situation is different, we see and monitor movements of armed men,” Hussein said.

“At day time, they (MNLF and MILF forces) carefully watch each other’s movement,” said the police chief. “If one fires a shot, large-scale clashes will ensue,” he said.

He also expressed fear that the MILF might get back at him for accommodating relatives of MNLF forces from the villages of Elian and Marbel.

Capt. Antonio Bulao, speaking for the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade, said a truce is in effect but neither side wants to budge.

“More troops are coming for the MILF side,” he said.

Amilabai Sendig, an evacuee from Barangay Marbel, said she believed there will be bigger clashes.

“There are plenty of armed men from MILF, and the MNLF men are also armed,” she said.

The fighting started on May 5 when the MILF was to hold an advocacy program for the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement in Barangay Marbel, a known peace zone of the MNLF after it signed a peace deal with the government in 1996.—Edwin Fernandez