DAVAO CITY – The Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) has asked tribal leaders and the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) to help resolve the suspected “pangayaw” or tribal war in the Bukidnon town of Kitaotao.
Lt. Col Ezra Balagtey, Eastmincom spokesperson, said the conflict has already displaced families belonging to the indigenous people (IP) in the area. A number of families, he said, had fled to nearby Arakan town in North Cotabato to escape the violence.
“We are calling the tribal group concerned to resolve their issue through their respective IP leaders, of course with the intervention of the NCIP office,” Balagtey said.
Balagtey assured that the military and other law enforcement agencies would not allow the conflict to escalate and spill into neighboring communities.
“Our job is to protect everyone,” the military official said.
Police reports indicated that villagers in the remote Barangay Tawas fled to Arakan Valley in North Cotabato after eight armed men entered the area on Monday, allegedly to avenge the killing of a relative.
Killed during the suspected “pangayaw” was 61-year-old Rodulfo Caingles Handuman, who was stabbed and hacked in different parts of his body.
The Kitaotao Municipal Police Station identified one of the armed men as Tudan Uban, a resident of Barangay Sinuda, Kitaotao. Tudan and the other suspects fled after the killing.
Capt. Norman Tagros, civil-military operations officer (CMO) of the Army’s 403rd Infantry Brigade, said the tribal conflict stemmed from a stabbing incident that occurred at a public dance, where a member of a Matigsalug tribe was killed.
“Then the members of the tribe (and the victim’s) relatives fought back. They were able to kill one person (Handuman). Unfortunately, it was a mistaken identity,” Tagros said.
An investigation by the local police is still ongoing as of posting time, Tagros said. (Rhoda Grace Saron/PNA)
