Rival clans in Marawi end 5 decades of conflict

LANAO DEL SUR, Philippines — Two adversarial clans ended on Monday a bloody “rido” that spanned for five decades and exacted no fewer than 50 fatalities on each side.

Rido means vendetta feud in the Maranao dialect, usually rooted in land disputes, political squabbles and affronts on clan pride and honor.

The warring families of Vice Mayor Jaafar Dipatuan of Bacolod-Kalawi and Mayor Al-Fatah Pacalna Balindong of Tugaya forged on Monday in Marawi City a peace covenant jointly brokered by Lanao del Sur Vice Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr., Regional Vice Governor Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and officials of the Regional Police Office-ARMM and the Western Mindanao Command.

Lucman said the ARMM’s regional peace and order council led by Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman also helped in reconciling the two families.

Members and supporters of both clans had repeatedly figured in deadly gunfights using assault rifles and grenade launchers over the past five decades.

Chief Superintendent Graciano Mijares of the Police Regional Office-ARMM said Tuesday he is confident both sides will religiously abide with the written peace compact clan elders signed on Monday in Marawi City in the presence of Col. Generoso Ponio of the Army’s 103rd Brigade.

“We ought to thank all sectors that exhausted diplomatic means of putting an end to this rido that caused the deaths of members of both clans and troubled for so long the neutral residents in affected areas,” Mijares said.

The Dipatuan and Balindong families turned in more than 20 high-powered firearms to the officials who led the rido settlement as part of the peace deal.

Sources from the provincial government of Lanao del Sur said the bloody rido between the two clans was sparked by political rivalry and squabbles for control of vote-rich areas in the province.

Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., commander of the Western Mindanao Command, said he is grateful to Adiong, Lucman and Hataman for having pacified both camps on the behest of the military and the ARMM police.

Galvez said the WestMinCom is ready to help rebuild the cordiality between the related Dipatuan and Balindong clans through periodic dialogues focused on how both sides can cooperate in maintaining law and order in their respective municipalities.

Galvez said the two big clans can also easily influence their constituents to support Malacañang’s anti-terror campaign in Lanao del Sur.