TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Gov. James Edubba will work on the immediate settlement of the brewing tribal dispute between the Butbut Tribe of Tinglayan, Kalinga and the Betwagan Tribe of Sadanga, Mountain province to ensure the reign of lasting peace in the Cordillera.
Edubba, who recently assumed his post as the province’s local chief executive, claimed that peace and order is one of his major thrusts that is why he will make all necessary moves to reach out to his counterpart, Mountain Province Gov. Bonifacio C. Lacwasan, Jr., for them to go back to the drawing board and explore the solutions to the aforesaid tribal conflict to avoid further escalation of armed conflicts that tend to affect the overall law and order situation in the region.
The governor underscored he will personally work and oversee the conduct of the necessary undertakings to bring together leaders of the feuding tribes to discuss the acceptable solutions to end the long-standing conflict that had tainted the peace and order situation of the region for a number of decades.
He disclosed there were some alleged lapses on the part of concerned authorities in handling the conflict that worsened the situation but the provincial government will not allow these to be repeated thus appropriate engagements will be done on the ground before working on the possible solutions that will end the tribal war that had existed for over 2 decades now.
According to him, there are doable solutions to address the conflict and that these will be implemented once the prevailing situation will permit their implementation not only by the concerned authorities but also the negotiators, the responsible local officials and the respected tribal leaders for the realization of lasting peace in the said communities.
The hostilities between the two tribes resurfaced on February 13, 2020 after their ‘bodong’ or peace agreement was severed after a shooting incident between members of the said tribes.
The breach in the peace agreement of the two tribes was allegedly rooted to a boundary dispute in a wide forested land that serves as a sanctuary of endemic species of trees and forest products.
On September 9 and 10, 2018, both tribes entered into their 6th peace agreement hoping to put an end to their 4-year tribal rift but the unnecessary breaches have time and again resulted to skirmishes that resulted to the loss of lives.
Gov. Edubba assured that the provincial government will take all the appropriate measures to settle the brewing tribal conflict to prevent any untoward incidents that might again trigger the hostilities because law and order must be maintained to entice investors to put up their businesses in the different parts of the region to enhance economic activities and create more sources of livelihood of the people.
He emphasized that law and order in the province will definitely serve as a confidence building measure for interested investors to establish their businesses in various parts of the province which will create more jobs for the qualified residents and improve the economic activities in the said places.
