North Cotabato gov't appeals to end hostilities

NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Officials are trying to end a hostile showdown between Iranun and Ilonggo groups in Alamada town sparked by firefights that forced 300 families to evacuate to neutral areas.

A senior member of the North Cotabato provincial board, Kelly Antao, on Tuesday said emissaries have been sent to convince both sides to allow the police and the Alamada local government unit to set demarcations that would put them apart.

The hostilities between the ethnic Iranuns and the Ilonggos in interior areas northwest of Alamada, a hinterland corn-producing town, started last week with a series of encounters involving peasants from both sides, apparently locked in land disputes.

The incidents reportedly erupted when Ilonggo gunmen attacked an Iranun peasant enclave, wounding two villagers.

The Iranuns retaliated, sparking a series of skirmishes that displaced dozens of families, now confined in a makeshift evacuation site near the center of Barangay Bao in northwest of Alamada.

Barangay officials said 300 families were displaced by the conflict.

The two groups last fought on Sunday, leaving two villagers, Jose Kagud and Samir Armada, wounded.

“We are trying our best to address the problem amicably,” said Antao.

He said North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Mendoza want leaders of both sides to forge a peace covenant meant to put diplomatic closure to the animosity between the two groups.

The provincial government is now helping the office of the Alamada municipal mayor attend to the needs of the evacuees.