SUMMARY

The conflict between the Forces of Jing Caludtiag and the Forces of Randy Karon started in 2007 when the forces of Karon disarmed a group of men from the Caludtiag clan seen in a village controlled by Karon. Since then, the clans have been involved in a clan feud, a so-called rido, which is common in the southern parts of the Philippines. A rido can go on for years or even decades before it is solved, often with the help of third party mediators and blood money.

In March 2009, clashes between Forces of Jing Caludtiag and the Forces of Randy Karon erupted and in May, four people were killed when Caludtiag’s forces stormed a hideout of Karon’s forces. Heavy fighting followed, and around 10 000 people were displaced in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat provinces on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.

In early June, a peace agreement was signed between the parties stating that a peacekeeping force consisting of police officers was to be sent to the villages that had been affected by the fighting. The agreement was negotiated with assistance from an MNLF chairman (Moro National Liberation Front, a rebel group that signed a peace agreement with the government in 1996), the Cotabato city mayor and the Sultan Kudarat Descendants Organization of the Philippines, SKDOP.

In mid-July, fighting flared once again, and after scores of people had been killed, the Philippine army sent troops to the area to stop the clashes.

The fighting has been concentrated in villages on the border between Maguindanao province and Sultan Kudarat province on Mindanao Island and both groups have suffered fatalities in the clashes.

The non-state conflict between the Forces of Jing Caludtiag and the Forces of Randy Karon is first included in UCDP data in 2009. In July of that year heavy fighting erupted between the groups on Mindanao Island which resulted in over 25 battle-related deaths.