SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan, Philippines – Officials of two neighboring barangays here signed a peace covenant yesterday to finally end years of “territorial war,” marked by bloodshed as residents were banned from entering each other’s village.
Superintendent Marlon Tayaba, city police chief, said he and local officials led by Mayor Julier Resuello and his brother, Vice Mayor Joseres Resuello, initiated the peace pact after three people were killed and four others were wounded last month in a gunfight involving residents of the two barangays during a fiesta celebration.
“They used to be so mad at each other that they banned their neighbors from entering their barangay and they even killed each other,” Tayaba said in Filipino.
He could not remember though when the conflict between the two barangays started.
“I am confident their gestures were sincere so that peace would reign anew in these barangays and henceforth their residents could freely visit the other barangay,” Tayaba said.