A “RIDO” is a protracted, bloody dispute between families or clans in Muslim Mindanao that is triggered by political rivalries, land feuds or even breaches in family honor.
Ridos have deep social and cultural roots, and reflect community pride and identity. They end only after the leaders or elders of the feuding parties reach a settlement.
The almost tribal nature of a rido presents a particular challenge for the autonomous government that will be taking over the Muslim Mindanao region after parliamentary elections in September.
Between 2023 and April 2026, 161 rido incidents have been recorded in the region. Last January, the mayor of Shariff Agua in Maguindanao del Sur survived an ambush widely believed to be linked to a clan feud.
In 2025, fighting between two families in a barangay in Ligawasan town, Cotabato, killed one villager and forced 50 families to flee.
In 2021, an argument over a property given as a marriage dowry in Pahamuddin, also in Cotabato, sparked a gunfight that left two men dead.
Ridos loom as a serious issue because authorities fear they could trigger politically fueled violence during the coming Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections. Local populations often look to powerful, well-armed clans for security and are wary of new government institutions. Analysts say this distrust dilutes state power and forces the government to rely on informal, ad hoc mediation over systematic statutory enforcement.
Anticipating such a problem, the Department of Justice is forming a technical working group (TWG) with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (Opapru) to recommend how to resolve or prevent clan wars.
Opapru Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento noted that ridos tend to be a generational feud that “even if you are able to incarcerate a person from one clan, it won’t stop until the whole clan is wiped out.”
Sarmiento said he has “witnessed firsthand the importance of community-based restorative mechanisms in resolving long-standing cases of rido or family feuds that fuel armed violence, displace families and hinder development.”
According to Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida, the TWG will install the framework for a mechanism that would merge locally facilitated peace settlements into the criminal justice process “without diminishing prosecutorial discretion or judicial independence.”
The TWG will consult with a broad segment that includes the interior department, police, the Ministry of Public Order and Safety of the BARMM, local government officials and other stakeholders in crafting such a mechanism.
The BARRM ministry will play a key role, identifying and monitoring rido flash points, and will employ traditional forgiveness rituals to settle local feuds.
Codifying cultural and religious rido rules for the main ethnolinguistic groups could also help scale down the violence.
Two members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority have introduced a measure that provides a clear definition of rido to prevent confusion and the misuse of resources meant for serious conflicts.
The Responsible Conflict Characterization Act seeks to establish culturally sensitive criteria for categorizing local conflicts in BARMM, prohibit the use of the term “rido” for disputes that do not meet the definition of violent clan feuds, and encourage accurate conflict documentation and reporting to support effective peace and development initiatives.
The bill’s proponents, Mohammad Kelie Antao and Suharto Ambolodto, are convinced it will reinforce peace-building efforts, preserve cultural heritage and ensure minor disputes are resolved through local, nonviolent mechanisms.
The measure also requires a six-month awareness campaign to educate communities and officials on proper conflict classification and cultural sensitivity.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (Acled), an independent nonprofit organization that collects, analyzes and maps political violence globally, sees the process of reducing clan conflicts as vital to ensuring peace in the emerging region.
“In the face of persistent rido violence, the future Bangsamoro government will be tasked with the tall order of convincing its Moro constituents — including the powerful clans that make up its elite — that the new institutions and mechanisms will serve as a more effective recourse than rido in solving the disputes that shape Moro social life,” Acled said.
The elections on Sept. 14, it said, promise to be the first test.
