COTABATO CITY—The government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have brought to the negotiating table those involved in a clan war that raged for two days in a remote village in Pigcawayan, North Cotabato province.
The fighting on Monday and Tuesday claimed the lives of two persons and wounded two others, and sent about 200 families fleeing to nearby villages, officials said. The identities of the fatalities were not immediately available.
Involved were Abdula Abdulsalam Maraguer, chair of Barangay Burikain in Pigcawayan, and Kandil Sampiano, alias Commander Kandil, who leads the MILF 105th Base Command. “They were locked in family feud (rido) and they traded shots from Monday until Tuesday morning,” said Supt. Bernard Tayong, provincial police spokesperson.
A quick intervention by the government and the MILF ceasefire panels brought the warring MILF field commanders and the village official to negotiations, Tayong told the Inquirer.
“A ceasefire was reached at
3 p.m. Tuesday between the warring clans,” said Senior
Insp. Arnel Melocotones, the municipal police chief, said. Mayor Jose Roquero had earlier initiated a similar dialogue, he said.
The displaced families, however, still refused to go home, Tayong said.
On Monday morning, the group of Commander Kandil ambushed Maraguer, which left his escort, John Paul Maraguer, wounded. Both were riding on a motorbike. In the afternoon, Maraguer led an assault on the Kandil’s forces, triggering a five-hour sporadic firefight.
Melocotones said the conflict was not a fight involving the MILF as an organization. “It was purely personal, family feud,” he said.
Last week, one of Kandil’s relatives was killed in an attack, purportedly mounted by Maraquer’s group that also included militiamen. The MILF leader vowed to avenge the death of his follower.
Tayong said that when a dialogue was called by the local government of Pigcawayan and the ceasefire panels, both rival families readily agreed to an amicable settlement. Edwin O. Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao