Cotabato City, May 17, 2018 –. Taskforce Conflict Resolution and Management (TFCRM) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) led the gathering of various stakeholders both at the local and regional levels in a thanksgiving ‘kanduli’ for the successful resolution of a clan feud on Monday, May 15, 2018 at Barangay Meti, Datu Blah Sinsuat, Maguindanao.
The ‘rido’ or feud between Dabpil and Dacula clans has been raging for years. Lives were lost, houses and civilian properties destroyed, and families displaced brought about by cycles of violence in the area.
Years of meetings and negotiations to settle the feud finally ended with the signing of a Peace Covenant witnessed by the MILF Chairman Al Hadj Murad Ibrahim on February 17, 2018 held at Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.
The program ceremony of the said thanksgiving ‘kanduli’ was hosted by RRUC Executive Director. Chairman Guinaid Kasan of Brgy. Meti delivered the welcome message where he expressed his appreciations to the leadership of the MILF for providing peacekeeping force to stop the warring clans from continuously fighting. The MILF buffer force led by Abu Saima was deployed in the area since 2016 to pacify the tensions.
While the parties and the facilitators deserved recognition for the peaceful settlement, Regional Reconciliation and Unification Commission (RRUC) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have played a vital role. In the message of support given by RRUC Chairman Romeo Sema, he urged the conflicting families to move forward, to settle their gaps for the betterment of their people. “From now on, let’s bring back trust to each other, let’s help one another; let’s eat together; sleep together as brothers and sisters in Islam, so that we can have a peaceful community that is free from fear,” Chairman Sema said
On the part of the DBS LGUs, former Mayor Datu Marshall Sinsuat and his better half, the incumbent Mayor Bai Raida Tomawi-Sinsuat both expressed appreciations and gratitude to the MILF Chairman for the efforts it offered to resolve the problem once and for all. The lady mayor also urged her constituents to support the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) that is being tackled by the 17th Philippine Congress. “Supurtahan natin ang BBL sapagkat ito lamang ang alam nating makaka resolba sa mga problema natin, hindi lamang problema sa Rido, bagkos mareresolba nito ang iba pang problema katulad ng kahirapan hindi lamang dito sa Barangay Meti kundi boung Bangsamoro ang makikinabanabang” (Lets support BBL because this is the only solution that we know to resolve our problem not only Rido, but it will also resolve other problems such as poverty. Not only in Barangay Meti but it will benefit the entire Bangsamoro as a whole)
The ‘rido’ settlement was made possible through the concerted and collective efforts of different stakeholders such as; the Regional Reconciliation and Unification Commission (RRUC), 105th Base Command – MILF, Maguindanao Taskforce Reconciliation and Unification (MTFRU), Mindanao Action for Peace and Development (MAPAD), Mindanao Women Development of Environment and Cultural Centre (MWDECC), MOSEF, CCCH both GPH and MILF, AFP, PNP and others.