COTABATO CITY, (PNA) –- Peace and development are expected to come in a remote village in Lanao del Sur after warring clans agreed to bury the hatchet and work for their community’s improvement.
Patriarch and elders of the Ukra and Macacua families in Barangay Linang, Bayang town, Lanao del Sur have signed a truce in front of Vice Gov. Haroun Al-Rashid Lucman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr.
Both vowed before he Holy Qur’an that they will stop killing each other and together work for the benefit of their clan members, according to Lucman.
Local officials, Army and police witnessed the signing of the peace covenant.
The Ukra and Macacua clan, composed of 16 sub-families, agreed to reconcile through the joint intercession of Lucman, Adiong, and Hataman.
The clans last fought during the fasting month of Ramadhan, police report said.
At least 13 people have died and more than two dozen houses were torched when they last fought during a chance encounter at a wedding party.
Lucman said their last fight also forced about 5,000 families to flee.