Villagers displaced as groups fight over land in remote Maguindanao town

DATU ABDULLAH SANGKI, Maguindanao --- Five gunmen were reportedly killed as two peasant groups squabbling for control of a 40-hectare land in Datu Abdullah Sangki town clashed again Sunday, dislocating dozens of families.Local officials had said among the fatalities is Commander Bodoy, an Ilonggo from Tulunan town in nearby North Cotabato province.Anwar Emblawa, an incumbent town councilor, said they have been receiving persistent feedback that at leastfive gunmen were killed in the encounter.The feuding groups, one comprised of Moro peasants and the other led by Ilonggo gunmen asserting ownership of the contested land, traded shots using assault rifles last Sunday at the tri-boundary of Barangays Banaba, Talisawa and Guinibon in southwest of Datu Abdullah Sangki. There are persistent reports from barangay folks that five protagonists were killed in the incident but we don’t have confirmation yet via actual body count of the reported fatalities,” Emblawa said.He said Mayor Bai Miriam Sangki-Mangudadatu is now doing her best to defuse the tension between the two groups and settle the conflict amicably.The local government unit in nearby Esperanza town in Sultan Kudarat province is helping put an end to the hostilities via a diplomatic intervention.Lt. Col. Ricky Bunayog, commanding officer of the Army’s 33rdInfantry Battalion, said government security forces sent to the area to secure innocent villagers recovered a cadaver of a gunman from one of the two feuding groups.The two groups figured in earlier encounters that resulted to the dislocation of dozens of families residing around the contested 40-hectare agricultural land.The land was originally owned by the ethnic Maguindanaon Alamada clan, but now occupied by Ilonggo settlers, also armed with assault rifles, shotguns and 40 millimeter grenade launchers.The 33rdIB on Monday dispatched a peacekeeping contingent to the area to help the local police prevent a repeat of Sunday’s incident.