Maranaw clans' rido ends in truce

MARAWI CITY, Philippines --- Leaders of two adversarial Maranaw clans signed here a peace covenant Thursday, ending a deadly “rido” that claimed more than 20 lives  from both sides and caused the dislocation of thousands of villagers.

The term rido means clan war in the Maranaw dialect.

Leaders of the Ukra and Macacua groups of Barangay Linang in nearby Bayang town signed a truce and swore over the Qur’an to live in peace together before Vice Gov. Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr.

The symbolic rite was witnessed by officials of the Lanao del Sur provincial police, the Army’s 103rd Brigade, and representatives of ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman.

The two clans agreed to reconcile through the intercession of Lucman, Adiong, and Hataman.

The rival Ukra and Macacua groups last fought in Barangay Linao in Bayang town, located in the first district of Lanao del Sur, during the recent Islamic Ramadhan fasting season.

Thirteen people were killed and 18 houses were burned as the two groups figured in gunbattles.

Lucman, who is ARMM’s concurrent social welfare secretary, said the last encounter between the two groups caused the dislocation of no fewer than 5,000  Maranaw villagers in Bayang.

Lucman said local officials in Bayang and surrounding towns, and Col. Glenn Macasero of the Army’s 103rd Brigade, helped convince both sides to agree to an amicable settlement of their rido, which was sparked by political and territorial disputes.

Lanao del Sur accounts for most number of still unresolved rido, some of them decades-old, in the autonomous region.

Lucman said he is grateful to the support of local Muslim clerics and officials of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for helping resolve the conflict between the Uka and Macacua groups. - John Unson