Mangudadatu, MILF talk peace

DAVAO City, Philippines – Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu led yesterday efforts to reconcile with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) following clashes between the separatist group and clan members last Sunday in Mangudadatu town that claimed the lives of 14 people, including some of his relatives.

“We are now at the negotiating table. We are trying to reconcile with the MILF. We are now talking with the MILF leaders with regards to what happened,” Mangudadatu told The STAR over the phone in the midst of a meeting with MILF leaders yesterday noon.

He said the reconciliatory move is aimed at preventing further clashes between the group of MILF leader Tauting Salendab and the Mangudadatu clan in the area.

The MILF formed Task Force Tenok while Mangudadatu also created a separate provincial reconciliatory council, which have been at the forefront of negotiations between the two warring factions.

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said the rebel group also wants to reconcile with the Mangudadatus, especially after Sunday’s clashes.

“That is what we want – that the two groups meet and come up with recommendations on what to do,” Kabalu said.

Task Force Tenok and the provincial reconciliatory council actually met two weeks ago in Davao City where they forged certain agreements until last Sunday’s incident.

MILF maintains it was not ‘rido’

However, the MILF maintained that the raging conflict between the two groups was sparked by the Mangudadatus’ construction of a road network in their known enclaves without prior consultation with villagers.

Mohammad Ameen, chief secretariat of the MILF, has branded the project as “development aggression” which, he said, can possibly dislodge local folks from the areas it will straddle.

The MILF website said the Mangudadatu family has a plan to put up African palm oil plantations in the areas to be reached by the road project, designed to connect Buluan, hometown of the governor, to Sultan Kudarat’s Lutayan town, the political stronghold of his uncle, Pax Mangudadatu.

The older Mangudadatu, a three-term congressman of Sultan Kudarat and governor of the province from 2001 to 2010, is aspiring to run for governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in the next elections.

The MILF said that contrary to the military’s assertion, the current conflict in the towns of Buluan, Mangudadatu and Pandag is not entirely a case of rido or clan war, but was precipitated by the opposition of local Moro communities to the road project, fearing it would dislodge them from their lands.

Ameen said the military has been trying to “simplify” the situation by creating the impression that the hostilities in the affected areas could only be rido and that it can be settled the traditional way.

As a result of the conflict, authorities have evacuated more than 200 families in the three towns affected by recurring hostilities.

Barangay Tenok, the area where the initial firefight occurred, is now a virtual ghost town.

The Army’s 6th Infantry Division has already been deployed as buffer troops within the three towns to separate the warring groups.

The evacuees are now confined in public school campuses in about a dozen barangays away from the combat zone.

“After the fighting last Sunday, troops were deployed to prevent the escalation of hostilities,” Maj. Gen. Anthony Alcantara, 6th Infantry Division commander, said. 

Conflict could hurt peace process

Meanwhile, Cotabato Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo yesterday asked Malacañang and Gov. Mangudadatu to carefully handle the conflict.

“I am saddened by the violence in the area. But more than that, I appeal to the authorities to handle the situation with care. I hope this would not escalate into a big conflict reminiscent of the 2008 and 2009 conflict with the MILF. In a sense, to explore all possibilities to avoid turning the whole thing into a big war,” he said.

The prelate said the problem should be resolved immediately because it could affect the country on a national scale, particularly in the peace and order situation in ARMM.

“It can really have many implications. It can affect forthcoming elections in ARMM and it might affect ongoing peace talks of the government and the MILF,” Bagaforo said.

He also hopes that it would not affect the ongoing trial of the Maguindanao massacre. – John Unson, Jaime Laude, Evelyn Macairan