Deadly clan war ends in Basilan

COTABATO CITY — Two feuding Yakan clans reconciled on Tuesday in a symbolic rite in Ungkaya Pukan town in Basilan, ending a six-year rido that had exacted more than 10 fatalities on each of the clans.

Rido is a generic term for clan war in most Moro and other southern vernacular.

Basilan Governor Hadjiman H. Salliman and Brig. Allan C. Nobleza, Bangsamoro police director, separately told reporters on Wednesday that the clans of Amil Palluh and Jhomie Majaran willingly sealed their peace covenant brokered by the Army’s 101st Infantry Brigade, the Basilan Provincial Police Office, and the multi-sector Provincial Peace and Order Council.

Hostilities between the two clans started in 2018 and have since displaced hundreds of Yakan villagers in Bohe Suyak and neighboring areas.

Brig. Gen. Alvin V. Luzon, army brigade commander, explained that the covenant signed by the two parties is a commitment to peaceful coexistence in their common domains in Ungkaya Pukan.

“To all who cooperated in settling their longtime rido, we in PRO-BAR are thankful,” Mr. Nobleza said.

Since 2016, the league of mayors, PPOC, PRO-BAR units, and the Army successfully resolved 42 clan wars in Basilan. — John Felix M. Unson