Tribal conflict forces villagers to flee homes

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — The provincial government dispatched yesterday a fact-finding team to find solutions to the decades-old "tribal war" in a coastal town where hostilities have erupted anew in the past six days.

Local officials confirmed that more than 400 families in the Lapaken and Bakayawan districts of the newly created municipality of Datu Blah Sinsuat were forced to evacuate due to clashes between Tausog and Maguindanaon settlers there.

The fresh hostilities erupted last week, sparked by disagreements on the demarcation of lands occupied by each group.

The new town, which covers 10 coastal barangays, was created only three weeks ago, carved out of its mother municipality, North Upi, in the first district of Maguindanao.

Maguindanao Vice Gov. Datu Bimbo Sinsuat cited reports that hundreds of residents in the affected fishing villages have fled to nearby Barangays Resa and Kinimi, reluctant to return home for fear of getting caught in the crossfire.

Sources said sporadic encounters began last week when rival groups of Tausogs and Maguindanaons, armed with M-14 and M-16 rifles, chanced upon each other in a fishing village and without any provocation, immediately traded shots.

The Tausog-Maguindanaon conflict in the area began in the early 1970s when both sides claimed control of beaches in the areas where they trapped skipjack tuna (tulingan) using lantung, an indigenous contraption of ropes, coconut palms and fine-meshed nets.

The animosity worsened when both groups further fought over arable lands near their "territories."

North Upi Mayor Ramon Piang activated early this year the multisectoral Task Force Lapaken to enforce a supposed truce between the two groups. — John Unson