Feuding clans in Sulu reconcile

CAMP S.K PENDATUN, Maguindanao - Two feuding Tausog clans in Sulu locked in a decade-old bloody clan war reconciled Tuesday through the intercession of the police and local officials.

Several members of the rival Sahidi and Ukang clans, armed with assault rifles and shoulder-fire 40-millimeter grenade launchers, were killed in previous hostilities that also repeatedly caused the dislocation of innocent villagers in Barangay Danag in Patikul town.

Chief Supt. Noel Delos Reyes, police director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said leaders of the two families- Pinon Sahidi and Hadji Barri Ukang- signed a peace pact in Jolo, capital town of Sulu, in the presence of Gov. Abdusakur Tan II and other local officials.

The two groups last figured in hostilities immediately after the October 28 barangay elections, where both pitted candidates for elective positions in the barangay governments in Danag and surrounding districts.

The two clans, whose bitter rivalry was sparked by territorial disputes and political differences, also agreed to help the police maintain law and order in the areas rocked by their past encounters.

Delos Reyes said the Sahidi and Ukang clans were hesitant to agree to an amicable settlement of their long-time dispute at first, but eventually conceded through the efforts of the provincial governor and Sulu’s vice-governor, Hadji Abdusakur Tan, Sr.

Leaders of both sides agreed to reposition their forces away from each other and help the police and the Patikul local government unit address peace and security concerns in Barangay Danag through peaceful dialogues.