COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Two rival groups of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front clashed in Barangay Banucagon in Pigcawayan, Cotabato on Wednesday, leaving one person dead and hundreds of villagers displaced.
The two groups were reportedly squabbling for control of territories and had supported rival candidates during last year’s barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
Barangay officials and memebrs of the Pigcawayan Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said around 600 villagers, among them children, evacuated their homes.
Maj. Gen. Alex Rillera, 6th Infantry Division commander, and Soccksargen police director Brig. Gen. Augustus Placer had sent emissaries for a peaceful resolution of the conflict of the warring groups.