Six feuding Yakan clans end decades of strife

COTABATO CITY -- Leaders of six feuding Yakan clans in Sumisip town in Basilan on Sunday swore over the Qur’an to co-exist anew, ending decades of bloody conflicts sparked by land and political disputes.Elders of the Palinta and Tukul families, the Abdulmuin and Aspali families, and the Sapaat and Aliman families in Barangays Guiong, Manaul and Kabengbeng in Sumisip town, respectively, also signed a peace covenant enjoining them to live together according to Islamic fraternalism principles.The rival clans agreed to reconcile through the intercession of Gov. Mujiv Hataman and his older sibling, Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman, and Col. Rolando Bautista of the Army’s 104thBrigade.Sumisip, located southwest of the island province and has 29 barangays, is hometown of the Hatamans.Local officials in Sumisip had told the and//ndbcnews.com.ph/ ndbcnews.com.ph that it took the Hatamans and their constituent-religious leaders and municipal elders several weeks to convince the six clans to end their deep-seated animosity for each other.The military and the Basilan provincial police office helped facilitate the transport of representatives of each of the rival families to Barangay Buli-Buli, capital of Sumisip, where the symbolic reconciliation rite was held. The leaders of these families broke bread and smoked the proverbial peace pipe in the presence of public officials and Islamic preachers,” Gov. Hataman said in a text message.He said credit also has to go to the ARMM’s Regional Reconciliation and Unification Commission, the Basilan Ulama Council, the Regional Darul Ifta, also known as the Islamic House of Opinions in the autonomous region, and the local government unit of Sumisip for helping resolve the clan wars.Sunday’s peaceful settlement of the three clan wars involving six big Yakan families, known for keeping firearms both as status symbol and as protection from adversaries, brought to 13 the total number of family feuds in Basilan the ARMM governor settled since his election to office in 2013.The clan wars involving the Palinta and Tukul families, the Abdulmuin and Aspali families, and the Sapaat and Aliman families were precipitated by squabbles over control of strategic patches of lands in their respective barangays and political rivalries.Some members of the feuding clans belong to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.Gov. Hataman said senior leaders of the MILF in the province were also instrumental in the amicable settlement of the three clan wars.