CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Military and local officials have successfully settled the animosity between two Moro village officials in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao, through a series of peaceful dialogues.
On Friday, June 29, the Army facilitated the peace covenant signing between Datu Saudi Ampatuan village chairpersons Datu Tambungalan and Tamano Mamalapat of Barangays Kitango and Kitapok, respectively.
Brigadier General Deosdado Carreon, the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade (IB) commander, and Lieutenant Colonel Alvin Iyog, 2nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion chief, assisted the town government in settling the dispute, said Capt. Arvin John Encinas, the spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.
“Cordiality highlighted the peace settlement ceremony,” Encinas said in an interview on Saturday, adding that the warring families have been locked in a decade-old “rido” (clan war) but agreed to meet at the headquarters of the 601st IB in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao.
“Both parties got tired of fighting and finally decided to reconcile their differences,” the Army official said.
Encinas said that Datu Saudi Ampatuan Mayor Bai Anida Dimaukom was also instrumental in the successful “rido” settlement, as she worked tirelessly to convince both parties to end their dispute.
The Tambungalan and Mamalapat families, who are blood-related, also agreed to work harder for the betterment of their respective communities.
“We have to move forward now and leave the past behind now,” Tambungalan said in the vernacular.
Malapat, for his part, said: “Never again will we go back to our violent past as it is futile to lose more family members in this long-drawn quarrel.”
Kitapok and Kitango are adjacent villages of Datu Saudi Ampatuan and the site of intermittent skirmishes between the two families that had claimed lives from both sides. (PNA)
