2 feuding Maguindanao clans agree to end 'rido'

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Two feuding clans n Maguindanao on Sunday ended a bloody "rido," or clan war, that had left people on both sides dead.

The rival Guiaman and Guiamalon families, led Gani Guiaman and Ali Guimalon, have forged an agreement to end the feud and to live as good neighbors to each other.

The Guiamelons are identified with the 106th Base Command of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front under Zacaria Guma while the Guimans belong to the front's 118th Base Command led by Wahid Tundok.

The agreement, signed by leaders of both sides at a ceremonty at the town hall of Rajah Buayan, was brokered by Mayor Yacob Ampatuan, officials of the 33rd Infantry Battalion under the 601st Infantry Brigade and the Maguindanao provincial police office.

Ampatuan said the association of barangay captains in Radjah Buayan also helped resolved the deadly rido.

"Credit, most importantly, has to go to the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities of the MILF and the government and to top leaders of the MILF in the second district of Maguindanao," Ampatuan said Monday.

The conflict between the two clans stemmed from land disputes and political differences.

Ampatuan said leaders of both clans have assured the municipal peace and order council that they will work together to bring normalcy back to villages where they had previously clashed.