TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The tribal feud of the Dacalan and Gaang tribes of Tanudan town has been resolved when they swapped sipats or peace tokens on December 7, 2017.
The two tribes broke their bodong or peace pact on account of a border dispute and almost came to an open war after guns were fired on November 29.
Also due to a boundary dispute, the tribes of Tulgao and Tinglayan in Tinglayan, Kalinga figured in a firefight on August 29 resulting in the wounding of two members of the latter tribe. They smoked the peace pipe by exchanging sipats on October 6.
Gaang barangay captain Severo Dalunag and Dacalan barangay captain Alejandro Dinnao gave each other a bolo as their sipat. They are now the sipat holders or sipat overseers for their tribes.
The sipat is the first stage in the restoration of the bodong. The bodong is a bilateral peace pact system practiced by native tribes in Kalinga, northern Mtn. Province and in some parts of Abra.
Rev. Luis Aoas who presided over the sipat ceremony on December 7 informed that the border dispute came to a head last month leading to the severance of their bodong.
Aoas said that development isolated the Dacalans because the trail to their village passes through Gaang. The two villages which are located near the boundary with Mt. Province have no roads.
“The only other outlet of Dacalan is through Tinglayan which is more difficult apart from the fact that Dacalan and Basao have a shaky relationship. Teachers, students, and employees from Dacalan were badly affected because they could only pass through Gaang if in the company of soldiers or members of neutral tribes. Their sick were also affected and so were their daily economic activities,” Aoas said.
Aoas said that there was an incident of gun firing on November 29 but there were no reported casualties.
The Municipal Peace and Order Council (MPOC) headed by Mayor Johnwell Tiggangay and some elders of neutral tribes in Tanudan intervened holding several peace negotiations between the warring tribe but to no avail.
Aoas said that the initiatives of the MPOC “failed due to the complexity of the problem” so that on December 4, 2017, they officially endorsed the problem to the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) and to the provincial office of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Aoas said that during the second meeting of the PPOC on December 7, the PPOC members and elders of neutral tribes appealed to the warring tribes to restore their peace pact and in the end, the tribes agreed to exchange sipats.
Aoas said that the two tribes will hold the first singlip or inom in Gaang on December 14 with the second to be conducted in Dacalan later. The singlip or inom are the occasions where erstwhile warring tribes discuss and resolve their differences.
“This is good news to the overall peace and order campaign of the province. To the people of both tribes who will now have a peaceful Christmas and they will now go back to their normal lives. This is also good to the Army soldiers and the police who are stationed in the area keeping the peace as they can now join their families this Christmas. I congratulate both tribes for going back to the negotiating table and for heeding our plea to give peace a chance,” Acting Governor James Edduba said in a statement.****By Estanislao Albano, Jr.