SADANGA, Mountain Province – Mayor Adolf Ganggangan appealed to the people and elders of barangay Bikigan for sobriety and calmness in the light of the untimely demise of a hunter from their barangay who was allegedly shot by members of the Butbut tribe from Tinglayan, Kalinga over a week ago.
Further, Ganggangan also appealed to the officials and elders of the Butbut tribe to work out the surrender of the suspect who was responsible for the killing of the hunter to avoid the conflict from escalating in the future.
He pointed out that the killing of the hunter from barangay Bikigan is untimely as local officials of Mountain Province, Kalinga, Sadanga and Tinglayan are working out ‘win-win’ peaceful solutions to the brewing conflict between the Betwagan tribe of Sadanga and the Butbut tribe of Tinglayan.
Earlier, tension between the Betwagan and Butbut tribes heated up when a farmer, who is a member of the Butbut tribe, was killed and another was injured during an alleged shootout that transpired in the disputed area.
This incident was allegedly triggered by an earlier incident on December 28, 2022 when a member of the Betwagan tribe was allegedly shot to death by members of the Butbut tribe in the vicinity of the disputed area.
Ganggangan underscored that local officials of the involved local governments are doing their best to reach a peaceful solution to the over 2 decades of conflict that is why whatever untoward incidents that happen along the way will result to further loss of lives and damage to properties and will not help in the early and timely resolution of the conflict.
He recognized the efforts of Kalinga Gov. James Edubba in reaching out to Mountain Province Gov. Bonifacio Lacwasan, Jr. to work out possible peaceful solutions to the said conflict but it seems that there are untoward incidents that are happening that might trigger the escalation of the conflict to a full blown tribal war which they do not actually want to happen in the first place.
The Betwagan tribe imposed as a condition for the proposed exchange of peace tokens that the members of the Butbut tribe should move out their animals from the disputed area as part of the confidence-building measures to pave the way for the eventual realization of the peace pact between the feuding tribes.
However, the Butbut tribe allegedly refused to accede to this condition and insist that the disputed area is within their jurisdiction which caused a setback in the supposed initial peace negotiation process.
The Betwagan tribe is based in barangay Betwagan, Sadanga while the Butbut tribe inhabit some 5 barangays of Tinglayan, Kalinga.
The proposed resolution to the Betwagan-Butbut conflict has already reached the Department of National Defense (DND) and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unification (OPAPRU) which are closely monitoring the recent developments in the said areas.
