COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The foreign-funded water system project built in Barangay Asin in Panglima Estino town in Sulu has led to the reconciliation of two warring siblings.
The family feud stemmed from their political ambitions, which saw the two go separate ways. After seeing their respective followers worked together in a “bayanihan” system in the construction of the project, the two agreed to unite as blood brothers.
Mayor Hadji Munib Estino of Panglima Estino town agreed to a peace covenant with his brother Hadji Kadil Estino who was his predecessor following negotiations brokered by Gov. Hadji Abdusakur Tan of Sulu and Vice Gov. Lady Anne Sahidullah in a solemn ceremony held in the Municipality of Patikul, Sulu.
Munib and Kadil are the sons of former Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) commander, Hadji Abbas “Maas Bawang” Estino, the legendary warrior of Sulu who was tagged as one of the members of the “Magic 8” that returned to the fold of the law and was personally received by the late President Ferdinand Marcos in Malacañang.
The group of “Magic 8” was composed of eight tribal leaders of the province of Sulu who joined the MNLF in the 1970s.
However, after several years of fighting the government, they later agreed to join forces with the military.Col. Celestino Pereyra, comman-der of the 2nd Marine Brigade based in Jolo, Sulu witnessed the signing of the peace covenant between the two brothers since dozens of their follo-wers loyal to them have been killed already because of this family feud.
The World Bank and Japan Bank on International Cooperation through the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Social Fund Project, which is being managed by ARMM Regional Gov. Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan with the assistance of lawyer Mustapha Sambolawan, is bankrolling the water system project.
Tausug residents that witnessed the two warring brothers embraced said it took the construction of the water system in a town that has no regular supply of potable water system to unite after politics separated the two since the 2004 elections.
The quarrel of the two brothers and their respective followers also caused an economic recession in their hometown, torn by factional division among sectors that took sides.
The Autonomous Region Social Fund Project has dozens of socio-economic projects in far-flung communities in the autonomous region, all involving local communities, mostly identified with either the MNLF or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, according to Ampatuan.
In the end, the Autonomous Region Social Fund water project built by the followers that were loyal to either Munib or Kadil now benefits some 1,000 residents in four adjoining villages where people have once lived in fear and under tight security as a devastating consequence of the family feud between the two scions of an influential Tausug clan of Sulu.(Julmunir I. Jannaral / Manila Times)
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