DAVAO CITY, 7 June 2005 — Political rivalry remains one of the top causes of clan wars in some areas of Mindanao, studies conducted by respected conflict researchers showed.

During the two-day forum on “rido,” or family feud, held at the Marco Polo Hotel here, the researchers also agreed that at times, clan wars have led to more serious cases of violence involving the military and Moro rebels.

Aside from political rivalries, land disputes were also blamed for clan wars that take place in many parts of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The studies have also said that clan wars normally occur in the areas with extreme poverty, armed conflicts, governance problems and inadequate delivery of basic services.

Dr. Moctar Matuan, PhD, executive director of the Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao based in Marawi City, said that in Lanao del Sur alone, political rivalry was behind the death of most of the 669 people killed in clan wars during the past 11 years.

His study tallied a total of 337 ridos in 39 towns and one city of Lanao del Sur.

Only six people involved in the said clan wars had so far been imprisoned.

“Political rivalry was among the leading causes,” Matuan said.

The other causes he identified, aside from land disputes, include the concept of maratabat (pride) among Muslims.

Dr. Jamail Kamlian, of the MSU Iligan Institute of Technology, said in a similar study that smaller clan wars tend to blow up into a larger-scale conflict between separatist Moro rebels and government troops, citing several encounters which actually began from petty clan wars.

“Petty family feuds have aggravated the conflict in Mindanao as these have been the causes of killings or armed encounters,” Kamlian wrote in his study entitled: “Incidences of clan conflict and conflict management: Survey of feuding families and clans in selected provinces of Mindanao.”

“In some cases, some clans would join the Army to get back at another clan known to be sympathetic to the Moro rebels,” Matuan, a sociologist, said in an interview.

In Maguindanao, 218 cases of rido occurred from 1970 to 2004, claiming 811 lives and wounding 369, according to another study by Abhoud Syed Lingga of the Institute of Bangsamoro Studies. The clan wars also displaced over 500 families.

Fr. Albert Alejo, executive director of the Mindanawon Initiatives for Cultural Dialogues, the group that hosted the forum, said the studies were made in the hope of influencing policy makers.