COTABATO CITY – Two people were killed Monday afternoon when armed hostilities erupted between warring clans in Pahamuddin town in the Special Geographic Area of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (SGA-BARMM), police said Tuesday.
Police Capt. Rafael Bataan, police chief of the Pahamuddin municipal police station in the SGA, said the incident in Barangay Patot stemmed from a long-standing conflict between two related families.
The parties to the conflict were a separated couple, and the dispute concerned land that had been given as a dowry during their marriage.
“Initial police investigation indicated that the man and the woman had mutually agreed to part ways over marital differences,” Bataan said in a radio interview here.
However, the husband, known only as alias “King,” reportedly wanted to reclaim a two-hectare parcel of land he had given to his wife’s family as a dowry.
After the girl’s family refused, an ambush was staged, followed by skirmishes. Both families reportedly have relatives in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Police officers, military personnel, barangay officials, and representatives of the government and the MILF Joint Peace and Security Team (JPST) immediately responded to the area to restore order and prevent the situation from escalating.
Authorities advised both parties to remain in their respective areas and refrain from any actions that could trigger further violence.
Amicable settlement is in progress, facilitated by the police and military. (PNA)