MILF forges peace with Magudadatu clan in Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — The Moro Islamic Liberation Front said Tuesday it has agreed to forge peace with the Mangudadatu clan of Maguindanao to end a “long-standing conflict around Buluan Lake.”

Buluan Lake is an important economic driver for Maguindanao’s fishing industry and spans several towns, including Buluan – the home turf of Governor Esmael Mangudadatu’s clan.

In a report posted on its website, the MILF said its central leadership met with key members of the Mangudadatu clan on March 5 over the conflict that has already claimed the lives of “at least 100 persons” since the 1990s.

Mangudadatu confirmed the meeting, saying members of his family met with key MILF leader Boy Hashim, nephew of the late MILF chairman Ustadz Salamat Hashim, for an exploratory peace dialogue.

The MILF report said that during the meeting, both sides agreed to form a bilateral arbitration group in the hope of settling the conflict.

Commander Tautin Salendab of the MILF said in a subsequent e-mail to the Inquirer that the conflict was not as large as before but occasional skirmishes continue.

He said the skirmishes have also displaced several families, including his.

“It is to the interest of everyone in the area and the Moros in general that internal conflicts shall be handled amicably on the basis of justice, brotherhood, and sharing,” the MILF report said.

The MILF said it believed that that fighting stemmed from land conflict and in establishing control over rich inland aquatic resources that include several lake fish species.

Buluan Lake has an estimated surface area of 61 square kilometers. A number of fish species, including climbing gourami (Anabantidae), snakehead murrel (Channa striata), walking catfish (Clarias batrachus), and spotted barb (Puntius binotatus), can be found in the lake.

The lake is bounded in the north by Buluan; in the east by Lutayan town and south by President Quirino town in Sultan Kudarat province.

The lake is also important to farming with hundreds of hectares of rice, corn, coconuts, mangoes, bananas and other fruit-bearing trees grown around it. (report from Inquirer Mindanao)