COTABATO CITY (November 17, 2025) — Two enemy Moro clans in Sultan sa Barongis, Maguindanao del Sur reconciled on Friday, November 15, and separately assured to cooperate in restoring normalcy in areas affected by their 12-year bloody “rido” that exacted more than a dozen fatalities on each side.
Rido is a generic term for clan war in Southern Mindanao vernaculars, usually precipitated by affronts on family pride and honor, conflicts on land ownership and territorial boundaries and political disputes.
Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said on Sunday that the two enemy groups, one led by Manti Mulao and the other by Bangladis Katil, agreed to end their “rido” through the intercession of Maguindanao del Sur Gov. Ali Midtimbang, Sultan sa Barongis Mayor Allandatu Angas, Sr., officials of Army units in the province and their immediate superior, Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu of the 601st Infantry Brigade.
Both groups belong to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that has a final peace compact with the national government, the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro, which led to the creation in 2019 of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, replacing the then 27-year less empowered Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Leaders of the MILF in Maguindanao del Sur, among them the Islamic theologian Wahid Tundok, chief of the front’s 118th Base Command, also helped broker the peace covenant that Mulao and Katil signed during a symbolic rite at the office of Midtimbang, who, as governor, is also chairperson of the multi-sector Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Peace and Order Council.
“To all who cooperated in resolving this bloody rido, we are thankful. This achievement is a strong proof that multi-sector and inter-agency cooperation is so essential in addressing peace and security issues besetting the local communities,” Cagara said.
Cagara and Midtimbang separately told reporters that Col. Sultan Salman Sapal, director of the Maguindanao del Sur Provincial Police Office, and his subordinate-officers were also instrumental in reconciling the heavily armed groups led by Mulao and Katil.
The hostilities between the two groups, which figured in bloody encounters using assault rifles and grenade launchers, stemmed from squabbles for control of strategic swaths of lands in Barangay Angkyamat and nearby areas in Sultan sa Barongis and animosity triggered by their having supported rival candidates for municipal and provincial positions during past local electoral exercises.
Photo shows the leaders of the two enemy Moro clans that clashed many times over in Sultan sa Barongis sealing their reconciliation, reached through the efforts of local executives, police and Army units in the province, with a tight hug.