Displaced Midsayap residents seek end to clan clashes

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines — Residents of Midsayap town are urging their mayor to lead the resolution of clan conflicts that spill over and affect their daily lives.

Hundreds of residents of the North Cotabato town were displaced by gunfights between the Sogod and Namil families, the Talilisen and Mangadta families and the Macarambol and Taha families in Barangays Mudseng, Nes and Tumbras in Midsayap, respectively.

Residents told reporters Monday the villagers are expecting a strong response to the clashes from Mayor Romeo Araña, who is seeking another term.

"This is an emergency. There are foreign humanitarian agencies that he can ask to help to avoid stirring issues he seems too apprehensive about. The time to act is now," a foreign-trained Islamic ustadz (preacher), who asked to be identified only as Abdullah, told reporters Monday.

As mayor, Araña is chairman of the inter-agency municipal peace and order council, or MPOC.

MPOC members reportedly visited Barangay Tumbras over the weekend and told evacuees from the conflict-affected areas it is now safe to return to their homes.

Senior officials of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has members in the three conflict-stricken barangays, said Araña can also ask the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities to come in if there is a need for the MILF, the police and the Army’s 6th Infantry Division to help settle the clan wars in Barangays Mudseng, Nes and Tumbras.

"We just don’t know if Mayor Araña already initiated an effort towards that end," said an MILF official who is now in the regional government of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Barangay officials said Araña can also ask the Red Cross to facilitate the distribution of relief supplies to more than 400 families dislocated by the clan wars if he is worried of issues his political adversaries could raise against him if his office extends humanitarian interventions to evacuees.

Major Arvin Encinas, public affairs officer of 6th ID, said the Army’s 34th Infantry Battalion is doing its best to prevent any spillover of the clan wars to villages outside of Barangays Mudseng, Nes and Tumbras.

Barangay Tumbras was the scene of the latest clash among the feuding Macarambol and Taha clans.

Aside from land disputes, the two groups also have a long-running political rivalry.