NCotabato brokering peace deal between groups in land feud

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Tension waned in farming enclaves affected by last week’s hostilities in Barangay Manubuan in Matalam town involving two armed Moro factions squabbling for control of patches of lands in the area.

The provincial peace and order council, chaired by North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, the Army’s 602nd Brigade and the provincial police are now trying to broker a peace deal between the feuding groups belonging to the rivals Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) after both sides agreed to move away from Barangay Manubuan.

Mendoza’s office is now facilitating the return of the evacuees to Barangay Manubuan after the two groups had moved out through the intercession of the government-MILF joint ceasefire committee.

Workers of the provincial government facilitated over the weekend the distribution of relief supplies, comprised of rice, canned goods and other provisions to the 70 families driven from their homes by the spate of firefights in their villages.

Twenty-five of the 70 affected families were housed in makeshift relief sites at the center of Barangay Manubuan, while the rest stayed in houses of relatives in barangays far from the scene of the encounters.

Captain Tony Bulao, spokesman of the 602nd Brigade, said a peacekeeping contingent will remain in the conflict-stricken areas to prevent the two rival groups from getting close to each other.

Bulao said Mendoza has tapped Moro community elders and clerics to help workout the amicable settlement of the conflict.