Feuding Maguindanao clans agree to end 'rido'

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Leaders of seven heavily-armed Iranun clans have sworn on the Qur’an to end a bloody “rido” that have taken many lives and left many injured on all sides.

Rido means clan feud in the Iranun, Maranaw and Maguindanaon dialects.

The settlement on Wednesday of the decades-old rido between the Dagalangit, Malambut, Tomawis, Maricor and Aron families and their enemies, the Minis, Bangon, and Baroto families, was held in Buluan, the capital town of Maguindanao.

All seven families live in Barira and Matanog towns.

The rido settlement was brokered by Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, Senior Superintendent Agustin Tello of the Maguindanao provincial police, the Maguindanao Task Force for Reconciliation and Unification and the Regional Reconciliation and Unification Commission-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Mangudadatu said he is thankful to the leaders of the families for agreeing to have third-party mediators settle the feuds.

The feud had been triggered by political differences, land disputes and affronts on clan “maratabat,” or family pride and honor.

Tello said political rifts were the main cause of conflict between the two groups of families.

Chief Superintendent Graciano Mijares of the Police Regional Office-ARMM said Thursday the resolution of the feud helps the Mindanao peace process.

“Credit has to go to the provincial government of Maguindanao, the local government units in Barira and Buldon and the community elders who helped resolve the conflict,” Mijares said.

Mijares said Mangudadatu has confirmed that commanders of Moro Islamic Liberation Front were also instrumental in the reconciliation process.

The government and the MILF are bound by an interim security pact, the July 1997 Agreement on General Cessation of Hostilities, to cooperate in maintaining law and order in conflict flashpoint areas in the south.