Lanao Officials Hold Peace Dialogues

Peacemakers. Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo, of the 2nd Congressional District, and his son, Gov. Mohammad Khalid Dimaporo, Col. Benito de Leon, commander of the Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade and Chief Supt. Teodorico Capuyan, the regional police chief, hold peace dialogues in Lanao del Norte province.

LANAO DEL NORTE, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 23, 2008) - Government and security officials converged in the remote town of Magsaysay and held community dialogues in an effort to end bloody reprisals between warring Muslim clans in Lanao del Norte province.

The area where the talks were held Friday was the site of a recent atrocity triggered by clan war or locally known as rido. The practice of rido, particularly in the town, was largely blamed to disputes arising from business rivalry or being shortchanged in their deals which later worsened as blood debts that had widened into clan wars.

Just last week, Municipal Councilman Generoso Jamora was slain in what was believed to be part of a string of reprisals among the populace. The nearby town of Salvador had also been the site of another feud that resulted in the ambush of a group of Maranaos.

The dialogues were held by Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo, of the 2nd Congressional District, and his son, Gov. Mohammad Khalid Dimaporo, Col. Benito de Leon, commander of the Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade and Chief Supt. Teodorico Capuyan, the regional police chief.

The group later met with the locals and appealed for an end to the bloody feuds that had claimed lives and threatened to escalate into a bigger conflict.

Dimaporo directed the police authorities to speed up investigation of the Magsaysay incident in order to identify the suspects and charge them in court so as to prevent people to take the law in their own hands.