SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao -­ Rido or vendetta killings caused by feuds among Muslim families in Mindanao is “a social problem” that the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has found difficult to solve due to the proliferation of firearms and political rivalries, among others, according to Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice chair for Political Affairs.

Jaafar explained that the difficulty is compounded by “politicians and other groups with vested interest who exploited it for their own whims and caprices.”

In the past, Muslims usually resorted to rido if heinous crimes and other offenses would hurt the maratabat (honor) of any member of their families, especially the women and children.

But Jaafar said that today the practice, which is against Islam, has been very much exploited and has become rampant because it has reached a point that politicians have also considered their political battles as rido.

He said the proliferation of firearms in “almost all our communities has also worsened and made rido a social problem more difficult to solve.”

Among the rido that already killed dozens of people in Matanog town of Maguindanao were those that involved the Imams, the family of the incumbent mayor, and the Macapegeses family.

The rido between the families of Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan and lawyer Zacaria Candao, which stemmed from their political rivalry, has also claimed the lives of dozens of their supporters.

During his time as governor of Maguindanao, Candao organized the Task Force Kalilintad to resolve existing rido in the province.

Former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Lininding Pangandaman also organized a Regional Unification Council to address rido.

The Joint Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, organized by the government and the MILF to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement between them, has also attempted to amicably settle some of the existing rido among Muslim families in Mindanao.

But Jaafar admitted the MILF has difficulty implementing a policy prohibiting its forces from taking sides in any rido especially if their members' families are involved.

Aside from a task force that the MILF has created to mediate and solve rido, Jaafar said they have also been supporting efforts of local government units toward the same end “in recognition of the fact that this social problem has to be addressed with social concern by everybody.”

He admitted that there were rido in the past that escalated to intense armed confrontations between government troopers and MILF guerrillas, but he added that they “are really trying all our best to avoid a similar incident.”

He claimed that the encounters that stemmed from rido could not have led to clashes between the military and their fighters “had the family of those involved were not armed by the government.”

He said those involved in the incidents were actually armed members of the Civilian Volunteers Organization. “It is only here in Maguindanao that CVOs have guns and they are being used as private armies. They shouldn’t be armed.”

He alleged that Ampatuan has made it a policy that no one in all of Maguindanao’s barangays can file a certificate of candidacy for barangay elections if he is not a member of the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit, a para-military group under the supervision and control of the Army.

Disarming Cafgus and CVOs, Jaafar added, will help solve the problem of rido.