300 flee as land feud sparks new clash

MLANG, North Cotabato—Two Moro guerrilla leaders clashed anew over a 21-year-old land conflict in a village here, forcing the flight of more than 300 residents and prompting local authorities to appeal for dialogue and a peaceful solution.

Joselito Piñol, this town’s mayor, said the groups of Gani Saligan and Isabel Manuang, leaders of guerrilla units of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, clashed again in Barangay Dugong.

The feud, which started over a 10-hectare parcel of land 21 years ago, sent residents of the village fleeing for fear of getting caught in the crossfire, the mayor said.

It wasn’t clear if there were any casualty on either side, Mayor Piñol said.

He said he and other town officials were talking with religious leaders to help stop the gunfights through mediation.

He said he tried to convince Saligan and Manuang, who are relatives, to “sit down and talk.” He didn’t say if his efforts paid off.

Old feuds

Police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), however, said feuds over land are not new in the region.

Chief Supt. Bienvenido Latag, chief of the ARMM police, said at least 42 families are involved in different cases of feuds over land in the region.

Latag said the feuds are among the biggest problems of police in the area. He said a united effort to keep the peace was needed to prevent bloodshed between feuding families and the evacuation of civilians who have nothing to do with the feuds.

“We cannot do this alone,” he said. “We need the cooperation of local executives, the religious sector and families not directly involved but affected by the clan wars,” he added.

Officials involved

Latag said the problem was being compounded by the fact that some local officials in the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi are themselves involved in the feuds.

Among the more prominent feuds was the one between the Mangudadatu and Ampatuan clans that led to the Nov. 23, 2009, massacre of 57 people in a town named after the Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao.

“The killing of a family member could be due to politics, power struggle, land ownership dispute or other personal animosities that traditionally lead to retaliatory attacks and more killings,” said Mindanao State University professor Salipada Tamano. Williamor Magbanua and Charlie Señase, Inquirer Mindanao