Army peacemakers help end bloody clan war in Maguindanao

BULUAN, Maguindanao – Two Muslim clans locked in bloody two-year rido (family feud) in Maguindanao agreed to smoke the pipe of peace following a dialogue mediated by officials of the Army’s 1stMechanized Infantry Brigade here on Sunday.Colonel Robert Dauz, the commander of 1stMechanized Infantry Brigade, said his efforts to put an end to bore fruit when the warring families signed a peace pact in Buluan, Maguindanao on Sunday.Dauz said the families of Bong Abdul, 33, and Kindaw Samama, 45, have been trading bullets once their paths crossed in the village of Midconding, Gen. SK Pendatun, Maguindanao.Abdul, village chair of Midconding, said he was glad the Army took one more step forward and reach out to us, otherwise we will continue getting back at each other. I am very happy today. Finally, my constituents can return to work in the 80-hectare farm land that was abandoned due to the violent clashes in the past two years. We can now rebuild our lives, Abdul said after singing the peace covenant.His archrival, Samama, said that he agreed to come to a settlement with Abdul and refrain from getting involved in inter-clan violence because he too wanted a peaceful community. I swore to God that I will adhere to our agreement here today. It is high time that we mend our broken ties as members of the same family, said Samama who lost a brother in the fighting last year.Both Samama and Abdul are related by blood and by affinity.They live in a village where families of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members are into rice farming.Dauz said the covenant signing was made possible through the partnership of local government units, soldiers who are now peacemakers and traditional Muslim leaders in resolving the conflict that had sparked the armed violence the past years. We applied the whole of government concept in addressing the issues that fueled conflicts among blood relatives, Dauz also lauded his subordinate Army officers who worked for the peaceful settlement on the ground, cutting through rebel infested communities to reach out to warring clans.Maguindanao Assemblyman Khadafeh ‘Toy’ Mangudadatu offered his home in Buluan, Maguindanao as venue for covenant signing Sunday.He urged other Moro clans still locked in bloody armed conflict to think of their children’s future and end their family feud with other families. Let us stop this non-sense infighting among relatives and instead, support President Duterte’s vision of achieving genuine peace and development in Mindanao, said Mangudadatu who is related to both parties.He also recalled having hit by bullets during family feud about 30 years ago in Buluan.