Rivalry eases in Maguindanao town ahead of polls

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Iranun residents of Matanog town are confident they can exercise their right of suffrage next year without fear of getting trapped in hostilities between local partisan camps.

Local folks were elated when one of two candidates for mayor of Matanog, Cahar Ibay, withdrew his candidacy against reelectionist Mayor Kitz Guro to prevent escalation of animosity between their supporters.

"This is good and this is a sign that our leaders in Matanog want peace in the municipality, where people got dislocated by violence during past elections," farmer Munariman, 46, said in Filipino on Monday.

The protracted rivalry between Ibay and Guro, who is seeking a second term, was defused by Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu with the help of Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao during a dialogue in Davao City last week.

Also present in the meeting was Maguindanao Vice Gov. Lester Sinsuat, who assisted Mangudadatu and Hataman convince both camps to reconcile.

Ibay agreed to desist from aspiring for Matanog’s mayoral post while his running mate, vice mayoral aspirant Nasser Imam, will proceed with his candidacy in tandem with Guro.

“Members of my family and me can cast votes during the elections in May 2016 without being apprehensive of our safety while in the voting center,” farmer Ekram, 35 said in Iranun dialect.

Matanog, a hinterland town in the First District of Maguindanao, has high prevalence of rido (clan war) cases involving ethnic Iranun clans.

Ibay and Guro both have armed followers belonging to the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Mangudadatu, chair of a provincial rido settlement task force, settled in the past five years more than 40 deadly family feuds in the province.

“We ought to thank Gov. Mangudadatu and Vice Gov. Sinsuat for their intervention on the rivalry of Ibay and Guro,” a school principal, who requested anonymity, told The STAR.

The school official said teachers in Matanog were just as delighted learning Guro will seek reelection without any challenger.

“Teachers can safely help the Commission on Elections administer the elections in Matanog next year. It is always the teachers who are most vulnerable to election-related violence during the conduct of elections,” the school principal said.