RIDO SETTLEMENT. Leaders of warring families in Maguindanao del Sur, locked in a long-standing family dispute, agree to end the hostilities and shake hands during a dispute resolution by the Peace, Security, and Reconciliation Office of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao del Sur on Tuesday (Aug. 27, 2024). The Army, police, and three local government units in the province helped facilitate the dispute settlement. (Photo courtesy of PSRO-BARMM)
SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao del Sur – A long-standing “rido” (clan war) in Maguindanao del Sur ended Tuesday afternoon here after mediation initiatives by the Peace, Security, and Reconciliation Office of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PSRO-BARMM) and the military.
“We are glad to be instruments of dispute resolution, and we are happy that all is well and ends well,” Anwar Alamada, executive director of PSRO-BARMM, said in a statement Wednesday.
He said the families decided “to smoke the pipe of peace” after months of mediation by PSRO, the local governments of Shariff Aguak, Datu Unsay, and the government security sector.
The warring families had been locked in a five-year-old conflict, which stemmed from land and territorial disagreements.
Alamada identified the warring families as those of Barangay Chairman Mohammad Upam and Ali Damensik of Barangay Bialong, Shariff Aguak on one side, and the families of Hadji Tunga Nacio and Brahim Kaliong of Barangay Meta, Datu Unsay on the other side.
“I hope peace and development will come your way,” Alamada added in his statement, noting that the bloody dispute had already claimed lives and destroyed properties of both sides. (PNA)
