DATU ABDULLAH SANGKI, Maguindanao—Local leaders and residents Sunday expressed fears that two armed groups could ignite animosity between Muslims and Christians, similar to the situation when martial law was declared in 1972.
Former Vice Mayor Datu Ali Camino urged local authorities and civil society groups to intervene, initially with an independent fact-finding mission, to prevent a religion-based conflict that could be triggered by outside forces.
Camino was referring to the activities of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), which claimed responsibility for the Dec. 24 killings in three sub-villages here and in Ampatuan town, and the reported buildup of troops from another province of the dreaded Pulahan group, a pro-government militia organized during martial law.
Camino said that prior to the Christmas Eve killings of 11 farmers in Sitio Paitan in Barangay Banaba here, and in Sitio Sabadoan, Barangay Kakal, in nearby Ampatuan town, armed skirmishes had taken place between the BIFF and the Pulahan in October.
Residents said the areas were too close to Barangay Durian, the boundary of the two Maguindanao municipalities with Esperanza town in Sultan Kudarat.
Municipal Councilor Anwar Emblawa said 15 families of Moro farmers were installed in April 2015 by the Municipal Agrarian Reform Office (MARO) as beneficiaries of the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in the area.
Emblawa said that when the beneficiaries assumed possession of the 40-hectare land in Banaba, they were accompanied by police and military authorities along with the MARO and other agrarian reform officials to prevent conflict with neighboring non-Muslim farmers.
Sammy Maulana, secretary general of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS), said the conflict had assumed religious color, with the BIFF attack that took place on Christmas Eve which he described as condemnable and which worsened the situation.
The land dispute-related killings started with the slaying of Penda Pangalam, 55, and his nephew Abubakar Maton, 17, in August 2015 allegedly by armed Pulahan men.
The Pulahan came to the province reportedly to help local non-Moro residents oppose the awarding of Christian settlement lands to Muslim farmers, said an initial report by the CBCS, a federation of tri-people (Muslim-Christian and indigenous people) nongovernment organizations.
In October last year, five members of the group were killed in a clash with suspected BIFF guerrillas in Barangay Banaba, according to residents.
Maulana said a fact-finding mission should also culminate with an interfaith dialogue.
Some alumni of the Notre Dame of Dulawan High School, Maguindanao’s only Catholic school in Datu Piang town, volunteered to facilitate an interreligious dialogue to help prevent a situation of a religious-based animosity. Nash B. Maulana, Inquirer Mindanao