Army settles “rido” between 2 Moro families
Mindanao Peace Process • 10:15 AM Sat Jun 8, 2019
2
By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
Elders of warring families shake hands after after “rido” settlement by the Army as 1st Mechanized Battalion chief Lt. Colonel James Fernando CAV (center) looks on. (Army photo)
COTABATO CITY – The military in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao had successfully brought warring Muslim families to a “peace table” inside its battalion headquarters to smoke the pipe of peace over the weekend.
It took several days for the Army’s 1st Mechanized Infantry (Lakan) Battalion to convince Muslim families locked in “rido” (clan war) to settle dispute peacefully.
Lt. Colonel James Fernando, CAV (GSC), the battalion commander of 1st Mechanized IB, convinced the warring families of Datu Mando Tabungalan and Datu Tamano Mamalapat to sit down in a peace table located at the Army headquarters in Barangay Salbu, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
The two families had been locked in bloody and violent “rido” and they continue shooting at each other in the boundary of Barangay Kitango and Barangay Kitapok, both of the municipality of Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
Fernando said the clan war had resulted to the wounding and death of some of the warring clan members who are either related by blood or by affinity.
“This ‘rido’ has created anxiety to the residents of the Kitango and Kitapo barangays,” Fernando said.
To stop it, the Lakan battalion initiated a series of coordination and dialogues to warring parties and Muslim religious leaders.
To formalize their reconciliation, the elders of Tabungalan and Mamalapat families, signed a peace covenant that mandates them not to use violence in settling misunderstanding but through diplomatic means.
Mamalapat said he was glad the other party (Tabungalan family) agreed to a peaceful settlement. Tabungalan said he was happy and welcomed the Army initiative.