COTABATO CITY—A long-standing family feud that has been causing misery among Maguindanao residents has been settled, officials said on Saturday.
Through the Maguindanao Task Force for Reconciliation and Unification, two Moro families agreed to bury the hatchet and live harmoniously in the town of Sultan sa Barongis.
Engineer Abdulrakman Asim, task force technical working group member, said the elders of the families Felmin and Emran signed a peace covenant where they agreed not to use violence in settling dispute.
Both families have relatives and family members who belonged to the 105th base command of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
The conflict between the two families started when two of the members of Felmin family were killed by members of Emran family. The Felmin family tried to retaliate triggering massive evacuation among residents in remote Sultan sa Barongis village.
Asim said the Emran family agreed to pay blood money to Felmin clan upon intervention by the task force.
Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Toto Mangudadatu helped in providing the blood money so the family will cease from using violence that has also affected non-family member and residents of the village. The blood money costs P600,000.
To date, the clan wars, locally known as “rido,” that the task force has resolved reached 50.
Asim said the reconciliation of warring families through peaceful settlement agreeable to all parties was among the top eight-point agenda of the provincial government.