Hanna Bint Shedique B.

Alug
Aaron Angelo A. Montesa

BLOOD JUSTICE

LEGAL HYBRIDITY IN RIDO CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN THE PROVINCE OF LANAO DEL SUR

Introduction

Rido is a form of violent conflict resolution in Muslim Mindanao, stemming from family feuds

that are settled via “blood money”.1 For years, this system of conflict resolution has pervaded the

Southern parts of the Philippines and has mostly gone unaddressed by the government. In one of the

few scholarly works on Rido, Torres attributes the prevalent and enduring nature of this practice to the

fact that most cases of this form of extrajudicial settlement happen in areas where there is a “weak”

governmental or central authority.2 While modern-day ethics would condemn this behavior, the

concept of revenge as a form of conflict settlement can actually be traced back to pre-colonial

Philippines, starting from the predominance of the indigenous legal systems up to the penetration of

Islamic law.3 However, although Rido is a customary practice that has been observed in Mindanao for

years and years now, its legal and ethical basis remain to face challenges from contemporary scholars.

1
MARGARET HASLUCK, THE UNWRITTEN LAW IN ALBANIA 219 (1954).
2
Wilfredo Magno Torres III, Introduction, in Rido: Clan Feuding and Conflict Management in Mindanao 3 (2007).
3
PACIFICO A. AGABIN, MESTIZO: THE STORY OF THE PHILIPPINE LEGAL SYSTEM (2016 ed.).
 In this paper, we take a closer look at the concept of Rido, from its historical roots to its

persistence in Muslim Mindanao. We begin with a brief history of the development of the legal system

in the Philippines, taking note of the role of Islam and its proliferation, up to its relegation to the

Southern parts of the country. From this, we elucidate the concept of Rido and then survey analogous

cases to illustrate how this customary practice is treated by Philippine courts. We then evaluate Rido

from a legal standpoint by referring to existing Philippine laws. We argue that the lack of proper

Philippine laws that could properly address Rido contributes to its prevalence and allows this practice

to circumvent authorities and persist among Muslim areas. From this, we take from the lessons of

indigenous legal history and argue that Rido is neither a sustainable nor a just form of conflict resolution,

that it is a mere band aid solution, and that it normalizes violence not only among Meranaws, but among

Filipinos. With this paper, we aim to shed light on the long-held practice of Rido, and then challenge it

from a legal and ethical perspective.

I. Background of Legal Hybridity & Rido

A. The Introduction of Islam in the Philippines: A Brief Legal History

The earliest accounts of violent conflict resolution can be traced back to pre-colonial and even

pre-Islamic Philippines when it was once observed through tribal warfare. When our ancestors realized

that this form of settlement is costly and unsustainable, they began to reject the idea of “overkill” and

soon settled with a system that Fernandez referred to as lex talionis. However, this system of conflict
resolution was also soon disposed of when the destructive effects of lex talionis became too prominent.4

Our ancestors learned of the advantages of cooperation and developed the idea of “damages” and

compensation, settled through a “public determination of truth”.5 Agabin however notes that this less

violent way of conflict settlement “did not come easy to our Stone Age ancestors”, noting that the

human thirst for vengeance is almost insatiable. He attributed this to the religious belief of Filipinos

“that the spirit of a dead ancestor would not rest until after his wrongful killing had been avenged by a

relative”.6

It is, then, clear that ingrained in the legal culture of our ancestors are the concepts of religion

and family: punishment being based on natural processes, anito worship providing the sanction to

customary law, property belonging only to a family as a unit and not to an individual, marriage being a

form of expanding political power, and the governmental system of a barangay evolving from the

family, among others.7 This would only come to develop in the succeeding years, beginning with the

propagation of Islam and its cultural and political contributions.

When Islam arrived in the Philippines, it brought with it not only the religious teachings of

Mohammed but also numerous political advancements which were prominent among the regions it

touched.8 Historians note that the establishment of Islam in the Philippines occurred way before the

arrival of the Spaniards and this was evident in the coastal regions that already observed a central

4
P.V. FERNANDEZ, THE PROCESS OF LAW CREATION IN IFUGAO SOCIETY 5 (1989).
5
Id.
6
Agabin, supra note 3, at 5.
7
Id.
8
GUNNAR MYRDAL, ASIAN DRAMA: AN INQUIRY INTO THE POVERTY OF NATIONS 1632 (1968).
government modeled after the Muslim states,9 which Agabin notes to be one of its persisting influences

in our contemporary legal system.10 Further, Islamic law has already developed a form of common law

in our country called adat long before the American colonization brought and integrated English

common law in our legal system.11

Notwithstanding the developments that Islam introduced in the Philippines, the interwoven

relationship of religion, family, and law that was present in indigenous civilizations also manifested itself

in the Islamic legal culture. Islam was founded on a strong adherence to religious values and moral

principles, being described by Coulson as a “fusion of law and religion”.12 Like its predecessors, Islamic

legal culture was also very familial and pious, incorporating more conservative values into Filipino

culture while also upholding the primacy of family and community before the individual self. This was

observed in Islamic practices like the establishment of centralized sultanates through royal families,13 the

expansion of political power through marriages of convenience,14 the integration of one’s duties to the

community with one’s individual rights,15 and more pertinently, the communal act of raids which the

Meranaws have done for numerous purposes, one of them being to avenge the death of their chief 16

which alludes to an early form of Rido.

9
WILLIAM HENRY SCOTT, BARANGAY 175-178 (1994).
10
Agabin, supra note 3, at 50.
11
JAINAL RASUL SR., ISLAM AND THE FILIPINO MUSLIMS (2009), p. 28.
12
Noel J. Coulson, Law and Religion in Contemporary Islam, 29 HASTINGS L.J. 1447 (1978).
13
Agabin, supra note 10.
14
Id.
15
Id, at 59.
16
Scott, supra note 9, at 153.
 Despite the developments and the different ideas that Islam brought into our country, its

adherence to familial and religious values was a strong and consistent similarity with its predecessors,

which could explain its continued proliferation in our country albeit now being largely concentrated in

Mindanao.

Hence, at its core, the Philippine legal system is one whose connection with society and culture

is undeniable. Philippine laws have long been written to fit the social structure and to reflect the values

and the culture of its people. For Meranaws, this connection is only made stronger with the fact that

religion and law are inseparable with Sharia being viewed not only as a “source of law,” but also a “code

of life”.17

B. The Relegation of Islam and the Rise of Legal Hybridity in the Philippines

When the Spaniards and the Americans colonized the Philippines in waves, Islam fought hard

to retain its footing not only literally but also politically.. Much like the Meranaws, both colonizers also

used religion as a vehicle to further cement their culture and dominance over the Filipinos. However,

the penetration of Western influence has mostly been shaped by Filipinos to fit our culture, owing to

the fact that Filipino culture and values take primacy when it comes to formulating our laws. Further,

while Christianization managed to subjugate much of the country, Southern Philippines remained to

be under the control of Islam.18 In fact, McKenna argued that it is this very challenge of resistance that

forged a common Moro identity and united the otherwise diverse composition of the South.19

17
Agabin, supra note 10, at 52.
18
TRUDY RING, ET AL., INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF HISTORIC PLACES: ASIA AND OCEANIA 568 (1996).
19
THOMAS M. MCKENNA, MUSLIM RULERS AND REBELS 80-85 (1998).
 The defiant nature of the Moros was what enabled them to establish a foothold in our country

in the face of numerous challenges. This persisted amid the indefatigable attempts of Spain to intrude

on their shores, of the United States to assimilate them through its policies, and of the Philippine

government to integrate them in its reforms. Eventually, the Philippines ceded to the idea of legal

hybridity by enacting Presidential Decree No. 1083, or the Muslim Code of Personal Laws.20 Although

this has not fully quelled the tensions between the government and Muslim Mindanao, Holbrook notes

that this a great example of the potential of legal pluralism in resolving the international conflict of

overlapping normative obligations.21

In the book Legal Hybridity in the Philippines: Lessons in Legal Pluralism from Mindanao and

the Sulu, Holbrook described legal pluralism as the acknowledgement that overlapping norms exist, that

they could clash against each other, and more importantly, that they can coexist with each other.22

Holbrook further specified these clashing norms as the “supranational or subnational” norms (with the

nature of ethnic and cultural associations) on the one hand, and “national norms” (as established by the

government) on the other.23

In the Philippines, this conflict is very much apparent for the Meranaws, as they have, post-

World War II, struggled to position themselves in a country where they once ruled but have now become

the minority. As was mentioned before, the enactment of the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the

20
AMER M. BARA-ACAL AND ABDULMAJID J. ASTIH, MUSLIM LAW ON PERSONAL STATUS IN THE PHILIPPINES 8
(1998).
21
JUSTIN HOLBROOK, LEGAL HYBRIDITY IN THE PHILIPPINES: LESSONS IN LEGAL PLURALISM FROM MINDANAO AND
THE SULU ARCHIPELAGO 6 (2009).
22
Id., at 2.
23
Id.
Philippines was a big step toward the pluralization of the Philippine legal system as otherwise

controversial topics like divorce and polygamy were not just allowed but legalized for the Moros in

keeping with their religion and culture. When it comes to the long-held practice of rido, though, P.D.

1083 has been rather silent as its focus has been on the persons and family relations law of Meranaws.

Albeit the violent and tumultuous backdrop of the enactment of the P.D. 1083, it still was a

commendable effort on the part of the government toward legal hybridity, since the approach towards

Muslim Filipinos have become more conciliatory and amicable rather than aggressive and domineering.

As Article 2 of the said law states, its objectives have been (a) to recognize the legal system of the Muslims

in the Philippines as part of the law of the land and to make Islamic institutions more effective, (b) to

codify Muslim personal laws, and (c) to provide for an effective administration and enforcement of

Muslim personal laws among Muslims.24

Years later, the legal hybridity of the Philippines would only be reinforced post-Marcos regime,

with the ratification of the 1987 Constitution which retained a provision from the 1973 Constitution

on recognizing, respecting, and protecting the rights of indigenous cultural communities to “preserve

and develop their cultures, traditions, and institutions”, and considering these in the formulation of

national plans and policies.25 Likewise, the Court has also showed more openness towards the

jurisdiction of the Sharia law and its coexistence with the Christian-influenced Family Code, such as

settling the custody of a mother who has converted back and forth from Catholicism to Islam, 26

24
Pres. Dec. No. 1083 (1977), art. 2.
25
CONST., art. XIV, § 17.
26
Bondagjy v. Bondagjy, 423 Phil. 127 (2001).
acknowledging the legality and effectivity of divorce under P.D. 1083, 27 and favoring the freedom of a

divorced Filipino Muslim woman to use her maiden name as her surname.28 The shift towards legal

hybridity has come to be more accepting towards Filipino Muslims who were once compelled, multiple

times, to compromise their faith to comply with the laws.

However, as was mentioned before, the body of P.D. 1083 has given more attention towards the

persons and family relations of the Meranaws, providing little to no regulation on violent extrajudicial

settlements of rido. Although the current Philippine legal system promotes and fortifies the respect and

recognition of Islamic culture and religion, the long-held practice of rido has raised questions and

concerns from Muslims and non-Muslims alike, calling for intervention in the form of policies that can

finally address this issue. This, however, raises a perplexing question for our government, one that is

clouded with legal and moral implications: Can the State intervene as the parens patriae on behalf of

Muslim Filipinos on the issue of rido, or will this be an encroachment on the jurisdiction of the Shari'ah

law and culture of Islam, effectively betraying the concept of legal hybridity?

C. Rido in Lanao del Sur

Among the different provinces in Mindanao, Lanao del Sur remains to be one of the hotbeds of

Rido as it continues to disrupt the peace and order in that area.29 Lanao del Sur is a province located

around the Philippines’ second largest lake, Lake Lanao, in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in

Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Residing in the remote areas of Mindanao, it’s people, the Meranaws

27
Juliano-Llave v. Republic, 662 Phil. 203 (2011).
28
Yasin v. Shari’ah Dist. Ct., 311 Phil. 696 (1995).
29
Apipa Bagumbaran, Rido remains a challenge to peace and order in Lanao del Sur, Philippine Information Agency
(2022), at https://pia.gov.ph/news/2022/06/29/rido-remains-a-challenge-to-peace-and-order-in-lanao-del-sur.
have a long history of fighting against colonial rule, preserving their long-standing culture through many

war victories even as they had to adapt from their traditional political system headed by Datus and

Meranaw royalty, into the Philippines’ democratic system. This historical process, however, might have

caused the dynamics behind Lanao del Sur’s now hybrid institutional arrangement, including the means

by which Meranaws seek justice, especially on matters that the Philippine legal system does not

specifically provide for, like Clan feuding or rido.

The term “rido” might not be familiar to the general Filipino public, but to some ethnolinguistic

groups like the Meranaws, it has become a normal occurrence. Torres defines rido as a type of conflict

characterized by sporadic outbursts of retaliatory violence between families and kinship groups as well

as between communities.30 While some might say that it is part of “culture” in itself, we may also look at

it as a by-product of the culture of kinship and familial collectivism that the Meranaws have. After all,

revenge killings and feuds are typical in small-scale societies where family and kinship ties are the main

sources of authority and where there is a lack of effective state control and authority, like that of Lanao

del Sur.31

Torres also mentions three concepts—honor, shame, and reciprocity, and that the conception

of honor varies across different social contexts, and the Meranaws specifically have a term that

encompasses not only honor, but prestige and self-esteem as well—this is called the maratabat.32 And

more often than not, rido, through physical violence, comes as the ultimate vindication when someone’s

30
Torres, supra note 2.
31
Id.
32
Id. at 8.
family member’s maratabat has been challenged. This maratabat will be further discussed in

succeeding discussions on the traditional legal system.

II. The Philippine Legal System and Rido

At the core of the rido conflict are crimes of murder and homicide. This is because a rido only

starts when a killing of a kin has already been committed. Before any killing, it would still be a mere civil

dispute between clans that can still be subjected to settlement and negotiation in order to avoid rido. To

reiterate, the main characteristic of rido is retaliatory violence, and without said violence having been

done by an initiating party first, there is nothing to retaliate against.

Rido essentially involves the commission of a crime, which stems from a prior crime, and spreads

like wildfire once it has arisen tensions between parties. It has been tolerated in Lanao Del Sur owing to

its deep roots in Islamic history and culture. Barangay officials allow these out-of-court settlements and

turn a blind eye when numerous human rights violations are committed. Deinla, however, posits that

even though rido perpetuates a cycle of violence, it is also the very force behind the “dynamic

hybridisation of the justice architecture in Mindanao”.33 Of all the forms of rido, the author specified

those stemming from electoral contests and economic competition or rivalry to be the most violent,

most destructive, and most difficult to resolve since these conflicts usually result in several children,

women and the elderly being killed or brutalized.34

33
Imelda Deinla, (In)security and Hybrid Justice Systems in Mindanao, Philippines, in Hybridity on the Ground in
Peacebuilding and Development 225 (2018).
34
Id.
 Although P.D. 1083 did not explicitly mention nor provide regulations on rido, its effects still

lead to numerous violations of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines. One of them, and perhaps

the most prominent, is the commission of homicide. Under the Revised Penal Code, homicide is

punishable by reclusión temporal.35 If attended by certain qualifying circumstances like taking advantage

of one’s superior strength, being aided by armed men, usage of treachery and/or evident premeditation,

and infliction of cruelty, among others, the crime is elevated to murder and becomes punishable by

reclusión temporal in its maximum period to death.36

Likewise, certain statutes may also address rido as a crime. In particular, Republic Act No.

10591, or the Comprehensive Firearms and Ammunition Regulation Act, penalizes the illegal possession

of firearms i.e., ownership and acquisition without a proper license, and/or carrying of firearms outside

without the proper permit. Depending on the type of firearm and ammunition acquired, the penalty

can range from prisión mayor in its minimum period, to reclusión perpetua.37 When done with a crime

punishable under the Revised Penal Code, the use of firearms becomes an aggravating circumstance that

increases the sentence of the accused.38 Tangentially, since Meranaws view rido as a form of serving

justice, the violent way in which it is carried out to punish a wrongdoer may be viewed as a violation of

Republic Act No. 9745, or the Anti-Torture Act. This law penalizes, among others, mutilation, physical

torture, and other forms of unnecessary brutality.39 However, since this law requires that the victim be

35
REV. PEN. CODE, art. 248.
36
REV. PEN. CODE, art. 246.
37
Rep. Act No. 10591 (2013), § 28.
38
Rep. Act No. 10591 (2013), § 29.
39
Rep. Act No. 9745 (2009), § 4.
in custody of the person committing torture, rido violence may not fall under this statute, and may,

instead, be considered as a mere qualifying circumstance to murder.

When it comes to jurisprudence on rido, the volume of Supreme Court cases on the matter is

actually quite thin. Perhaps the closest that Philippine jurisprudence has ever gone on addressing rido

was a mere acknowledgement of its existence, and even then, this was not even the crux of the case but

a mere detail in its facts.40 This may actually be a testament to the inaction and lack of urgency towards

addressing rido amid its persistence in the So which may root from the silence of the laws regarding rido

and the lack of legal remedies that could address it. On the other hand, and perhaps arguing from a

fundamental point of view, this could be the case because the Meranaws themselves have grown

accustomed to the tradition of rido, and those who oppose it just do not have the voice or the legal

channels with which they can advocate against it, especially considering the fact that most cases of rido

are politically-motivated and occur between powerful clans.41

III. Traditional Legal System

The concept of rido or clan feuding itself stems from the history and tradition of the Meranaws.

These events have been going on long before the Philippines even had its own legal system as a unified

independent state. Which is why it is no surprise that even until today, the resolution of such conflicts

lean to a much more traditional approach, despite the criminal nature of the actions that they entail.

40
Lagman v. Medialdea, 812 Phil. 179 (2017).
41
Dexter Cabalza and Melissa Luz Lopez, More than half of rido deaths due to politics, says report, VERA Files (2013), at
https://verafiles.org/articles/more-than-half-of-rido-deaths-due-to-politics-says-report
 These clan feuds, albeit not unique to the Meranaws alone since feuding between families and

clans are also prevalent in other parts of the Philippines, are deeply concentrated in the Lanao del Sur

area.42 Between 1930s to 2005, several studies documented a total of 1,266 rido cases in Mindanao,

killing more than 5,500 people, with the province of Lanao del Sur (377 out of 1,266) having the highest

number of rido incidences.43 This can be attributed to the importance that the Meranaws place on their

kin, even to distant relatives. Specifically, the Meranaw’s maratabat does not only apply to their persons

only, but extends to their family as well, which is why when injustice is done to a relative, they take it as

a direct offense to their own maratabat, which, if we could recall, includes the concept of reciprocity,

further adding fuel to the fire that is retaliatory justice. And this maratabat also makes the conflicting

clans rely on the traditional legal system more in resolving their Rido, because Philippine and Islamic

laws do not take this “maratabat” into consideration, or rather, the concept of maratabat is inexistent

in these legal systems in the first place. Not to mention, Islam frowns upon the exercise of pride; it has

been mentioned a couple of times in the Qur’an. In Surah Al-Baqarah, pride has been referred to as

something that “carries them off to sin”,44 to wit:

“When it is said to them, “Fear Allah,” pride carries them off to sin. Hell will be their proper

place. What an evil place to rest!”

42
Torres, supra note 12.
43
Id.
44
Qur’an Al-Baqarah 2:206.
 Pride has also been the subject of a number of hadiths. A well-known example would be the

hadith narrated by Ibn Mas’ud found in Sahih Muslim, to wit:

It is narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullah b. Mas’ud that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be

upon him) observed: None shall enter the Fire (of Hell) who has in his heart the weight of a mustard

seed of Iman and none shall enter Paradise who has in his heart the weight of a mustard

seed of pride.45

But even when it is disapproved of in the Islamic faith, in Meranaw society, pride is a

characteristic that is quite undetachable from maratabat. Though maratabat is a collection of

psychological concepts that is not only composed of pride alone, it is still a rather central feature of

maratabat. Madale defines Maratabat as a “fierce pride”, which is also found in other Malays, and is not

an inherent Muslim characteristic but more of an indigenous propensity to take offense easily, likening

it to the concept of "face" or "hiya” among other Filipino groups.46 The same analogy was also mentioned

by Saber, et al. in The Maratabat of the Maranaw, saying that maratabat is often defined as the “amour

propre” of the Filipinos.47 Maratabat in itself is not necessarily a bad thing. But what makes it a problem

is when it ignites conflicts like rido. Saber, et al. says that while Maratabat is involved in a wide variety of

situations, to a Westerner the most interesting cases are those in which the protection of maratabat

leads to a loss of freedom or ensured death. This occurs most often when traditional law requires blood

45
Sahih Muslim 1:165
46
Abdullah T. Madale, Muslims: The Misunderstood Filipinos, in Philippine Studies 492-503 (1998).
47
Mamitua Saber, et al., The Maratabat of the Maranaw, In Philippine Sociological Review Vol. 8, No. ½ 10-15 (1960).
vengeance and hence is in conflict with Philippine constitutional law or when maratabat requires a

killing which will surely be avenged.48

Maratabat is not only consequential in starting a rido, but it is present even in the settlement

of rido because it serves as a factor to the prominence of the traditional legal system in rido conflicts. A

study on rido by Kreuzer talks about how maratabat causes many Meranaws to mistrust state laws.49

To provide an analogy, the way damages are considered in civil disputes, in rido settlements, the

arbitrators or the mediators, takes into consideration the Maratabat of both parties (depending on each

unique circumstance) as well.

A. Rido as conflict resolution vs. conflict itself

While we often view rido through serious crimes that it results in, such as murder for example,

it is, in actuality, a means of achieving justice for those who engage in it. While the Philippine legal system

defines revenge killing as murder or homicide, the Meranaw define the act as retributive justice.50 Instead

of availing of the remedies that the Philippine legal system may be able to provide, they take it upon their

own hands to achieve “justice” for their kin. While one might think at first glance that the reason for

this is only because of the weak state environment that Lanao del Sur is in, an additional factor could be

because the Rido conflict itself is a problem that is outside the concerns of the Western-style state that

the Philippines have, and therefore consequently, the Philippine legal system cannot provide the justice

that those engaged in rido specifically needs. Quite possibly because of this, the State itself, being unable

48
Id.
49
Peter Kreuzer, Political Clans and Violence in the Southern Philippines, in PRIF Report No. 71 (2005).
50
MOCTAR MATUAN, INVENTORY OF EXISTING RIDO IN LANAO DEL SUR (1994-2004), IN RIDO: CLAN FEUDING AND
CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN MINDANAO (2007).
to provide a solution to the problem through its own justice system, has allowed this traditional means

of settling rido to prevail up until today because it is what works to end the conflicts. In return, this

further allowed the traditional legal system to be more dominant when it comes to settling conflicts.

According to the International Crisis Group on their study of clan politics in the Bangsamoro region,

conflicts among families over power, revenge, honor, and land are not fully regulated by the government

and often left to the clans themselves to settle, thus allowing the clans to exploit deficits in the state’s

enforcement of the rule of law to pursue their own ends and enforce their status, through violence if

necessary.51

B. The Traditional Means of Resolving Rido

The indigenous means of resolving rido usually involves elders and leaders of communities

affected by conflicts who utilize local knowledge, beliefs, practices, and their network of personal ties to

help repair or restore damaged relationships.52 And the Meranaws specifically, have what they call the

taritib-ago-igma, which served as an uncodified constitution that predates the colonial and post-

colonial legal system of the Philippines, and the kokoman a kambhatabata’a, which is meant to be a

directive towards families or clans as a single unit—both are mechanisms that the arbitrators use as basis

in settling the disputes. Though the taritib-ago-igma, which was followed by the Meranaws long before

the existence of the Philippine state is no longer officially recognized in today’s legal system, the

Meranaws still use it as a means of settling their own internal disputes, especially in cases where

51
International Crisis Group, Southern Philippines: Tackling Clan Politics in the Bangsamoro (2020), at
https://www.crisis group.org/asia/south-east-asia/philippines/306-southern-philippines-tackling-clan-politics-
bangsamoro/
52
Torres, supra note 2, at 15.
Philippine law cannot give them the specific kind of “justice” that they seek. This reliance on traditional

laws and practices is why clan rule is still a prominent form of social and political order not only in Lanao

del Sur, but in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in general.

According to the International Crisis Group in their Asia Report N°306,

“The record of clans in the Bangsamoro is mixed. They traditionally have offered crucial support
to its population, particularly during times of civil war and unrest. But these patronage networks
also led to self-perpetuation of elites and fuelled forms of violence. Clan leaders found their way
into political office and took advantage of a weak state to nurture their position and that of their
kin, sustaining themselves through dynastic rule, pragmatic alliances and control of militias.
As a result, patronage and political warlordism paved the way for an environment conducive to
a particular type of conflict across Muslim Mindanao: feuding among and between kinship
groups. In these communal vendettas, families engage in episodic combat with one another,
mostly because of land disputes, political rivalries or personal grudges…”53

C. Legal Hybridity Under the Bangsamoro Organic Law

Because the traditional justice system has not been officially recognized by the state through an

enabling law, it leaves a burden to both traditional leaders, local government officials, the parties

involved in the rido, and the legal practitioners in Lanao del Sur to somehow find a way to resolve these

disputes with respect to the traditional practice, while still following the rules of procedure of the

Philippine legal system for the sake of maintaining peace and order, because should the courts decide to

ignore the traditional settlement of these conflicts, it would entail a continuation of the conflict. rido

conflicts are usually settled by terms set by the arbitrators or the mediators, and they usually accept a

“pasad” (settlement) through a “diat” or blood money. In civil disputes in Western legal systems, once

a settlement has been reached, the conflict is considered to have ended, without it having to reach a court

53
International Crisis Group, supra note 17.
proceeding. In the same manner, a rido settlement means that the conflict has ended, and everything has

been forgiven by both parties or by the offended party in case the settlement happened before

retaliation. And continuing the criminal proceedings in the Philippine court would imply that the

conflict is not yet over, and they would have to face against each other once more. If anything goes wrong

in the criminal proceedings where either of the parties might feel injustice, then there would be a

possibility of yet another conflict. This is one of the reasons why this practice of “settling” rido

extrajudicially, is being continuously legitimized locally, not only by practice of the Meranaw people

themselves, but also by participation of the State in these settlements. The said participation of the State

in rido settlements shall be discussed further in this paper.

Today however, with the passage of RA 11054, otherwise known as the “Bangsamoro Organic

Law”, this legal hybridity has been explicitly recognized by the State. Specifically, Article X Section 1 of

R.A. No. 11054 provides that:

“The dispensation of justice in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region shall be in consonance

with the Constitution, Shari'ah, traditional or tribal laws, and other relevant laws...The
traditional or tribal laws shall be applicable to disputes of indigenous peoples within the
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region... ”.54

However, this provision serves only as a means of recognizing the hybridity of the justice system

that the Bangsamoro has been practicing. The “dispute” referred to under this provision does not

provide for major crimes like that of murder and homicide. Section 4 and Section 5 of the Bangsamoro

Organic Law provides:

Section 4. Powers of the Parliament to Enact Laws Pertaining to Shari'ah. - The Parliament
shall have the power to enact laws on personal, family, and property law jurisdiction.

54
Rep. Act No. 11054 (2018), § 1.
 The Parliament has the power to enact laws governing commercial and other civil actions not
provided for under Presidential Decree No. 1083, as amended, otherwise known as " Code of
Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines," and criminal jurisdiction on minor offenses
punishable by arresto menor or ta'zir which must be equivalent to arresto menor or fines
commensurate to the offense.55

Section 5. Jurisdiction of the Shari'ah Circuit Courts. - The Shari'ah Circuit Courts in the
Bansamoro Autonomous Region shall exercise exclusive original jurisdiction over the following
cases where either or both parties are Muslims: Provided, That the non-Muslim party
voluntarily submits to its jurisdiction:
(a) All cases involving offenses defined and punishable under Presidential Decree No.
1083, where the act or omission has been committed in the Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region;
(b) All civil actions and proceedings between parties residing in the Bangsamoro
Autonomous Region who are Muslims or have been married in accordance with Article
13 of Presidential Decree No. 1083, involving disputes relating to:
(1) Marriage;
(2) Divorce;
(3) Betrothal or breach of contract to marry;
(4) Customary dower or mahr;
(5) Disposition and distribution of property upon divorce;
(6) Maintenance and support, and consolatory gifts; and
(7) Restitution of marital rights;
(c) All case involving disputes relative to communal properties;
(d) All cases involving ta'zir offenses defined and punishable under Shari'ah law enacted
by the Parliament punishable by arresto menor or corresponding fine, or both;
(e) All civil actions under Shari'ah law enacted by the Parliament involving real property
in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region where assessed value of the property does not
exceed Four hundred thousand pesos (₱400,000.00); and
(f) All civil actions, if they have not specified in an agreement which law shall govern
their relations, where the demand or claim does not exceed Two hundred thousand
pesos (₱200,000.00).56

From these provisions, we can derive that the legality of the hybrid justice system provided for

by the Bangsamoro Organic Law in recognizing both Traditional and Shari’ah justice systems only

applies to civil disputes, and minor crimes that are punishable up until arresto menor only. Therefore

55
Id. at. § 4.
56
Id. at. § 5.
the traditional or tribal laws applicable to disputes of indigenous peoples provided for under Section 1

of Article X of RA 11054 does not include major crimes like murder and homicide, both of which are

usually attendant in a Rido conflict.

Still, even if rido is not provided for in the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the fact of the matter is

that these conflicts are still settled in the same way as it has been settled before. And even without this

provision in the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the state itself do not prevent the Meranaws from settling

rido the way they have been accustomed to, as evidenced by the presence of local politicians, soldiers

from the Philippine army, and more often than not, even trial court judges during rido settlements.

From this alone, we can assume that the state, albeit not officially legalizing it, instead, “allows''

the Meranaws to exercise traditional laws in clan disputes, in comparison to its non-recognition of

traditional laws on land ownership and ancestral domains before the implementation of the Indigenous

Peoples’ Rights Act. Because even with the absence of any laws providing specifically for rido conflicts,

the state still did not intervene with the traditional way of settling such disputes that should have been

otherwise penal in nature, and even assisted and/or initiated the settlements through the LGUs and the

Philippine Army. To provide some concrete examples, let us look at three rido settlements in Lanao del

Sur:

On August 14, 2019, a 40-year old Rido in Lanao del Sur was settled, with the presence

of an Infantry Battalion Commander of the Philippine Army, and facilitated by two Meranaw

municipal mayors.57 This settlement included the surrender of rifles, magazines and

57
Richel Umel, 40-year rido in Lanao Sur settled. MINDANEWS (2019), at https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/
2019/08/40-year-rido-in-lanao-sur-settled
 ammunition, and a signing of an agreement to end the feud and pledged to the Qur’an to show

their sincerity in ending the clan war.

In another case, the Army's 103rd Infantry Brigade has facilitated the settlement of a

blood feud (rido) between the Alulong and Bantuas clans in Bacolod-Kalawi, Lanao del Sur.58

The Alulong clan turned over four (4) rifles composed of two (2) M16A1, one (1) M653

carbine, and one (1) M1 carbine as a symbol of their sincerity. The settlement was made possible

primarily thru the efforts of the Bacolod-Kalawi Municipal Task Force on Ending Local Armed

Conflict (MTF-ELAC) composed of the Bacolod-Kalawi LGU, Alpha Company of the 55th

Infantry Battalion, Bacolod-Kalawi Municipal Police Station, Municipal Interior and Local

Government Office, local traditional leaders, and other local agencies.59

Another example of the State’s involvement in rido settlement is when 6th IB battalion

commander Lt. Col. Clairemont Pinpin led a Rido settlement in 2019. The historic “rido”

(family feud) settlement between the Jamison and Magaluyan families was held at the Balabagan

town hall after a series of negotiations initiated by the Army.60

It is very clear and evident from these three examples that the State also takes part in the

traditional way of settling a rido. While it is not legally recognized in the Philippine legal system, the

Philippine government still recognizes that in solving local conflicts stemming from a traditional sense

58
Teofilo Garcia, Jr., Army Brigade settles ‘rido’ in Lanao del Sur (2020), at https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1103066
59
Philippine Army 55th Infantry Battalion, Army settles 'rido' in Lanao del Sur (2020), at
https://reliefweb.int/report/philippines/army-settles-rido-lanao-del-sur
60
Edwin Fernandez, Army settles feud involving Maranao families (2019), available at
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1068521
of “justice”, a traditional legal system is also complementary in comprehending the dynamics of the

conflict better than a western legal system would.

IV. Islamic Legal System

A. Retaliatory Justice in the Islamic Perspective

Because Rido conflicts mainly involve crimes of killing such as Murder and Homicide, these fall

under the category of “Qisas crimes” in the Islamic criminal justice system. Under Islamic jurisprudence,

it is compulsory upon a murderer who is considered responsible religiously to accept to be killed if the

heirs of the murdered chose to do that, but if they do not choose to do that, they then have the right to

take blood money against the killing.61 To be more precise, it is only established in the Shari’ah that

whoever kills deliberately should be killed, therefore, it is not compulsory that someone who kills

mistakenly should be killed.62 In the Holy Qur’an,63 it is stated that:

“O you who have believed, prescribed for you is legal retribution for those murdered – the free for

the free, the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. But whoever overlooks from his

brother anything, then there should be a suitable follow-up and payment to him with good

61
ASH-SHAWKANI, COMPREHENSIVE ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE 681 (2021).
62
Id. at 684.
63
Qur’an 2:178
 conduct. This is an alleviation from your Lord and a mercy. But whoever transgresses after that

will have a painful punishment.”

It is probably in this sense that retaliatory justice in a rido is legitimated by Islamic jurisprudence.

However, where a rido conflict deviates from the Islamic laws on vengeance is that the killing of an

innocent for the crime of his kin is prohibited in Islam. Notably, rido conflicts involve retaliatory

violence not only on the person who committed the killing, but his/her entire clan. This goes against

Islamic teachings, since the Shari’ah prohibits the killing of a person for another’s crimes.

The problem is, in a rido conflict, the murder out of vengeance is not only directed at the person

who initiated the killing, but his entire clan as well, therefore including people who took no part in the

initial killing, and whose only fault is that they were related to the perpetrator of the conflict. In this

case, this is no longer under the justified vengeance that Islamic law allows. Arafa also talks about the

principle of uniformity of criminal liability as the cornerstone of personal security in Islamic criminal

justice, which means that the offender himself is the only person who can be indicted of a specific crime,

and no one shall escape punishment irrespective of blood ties or friendship to the victim (or to the judge

or ruler).64

Islamic law places importance on the rights of the innocent, to a degree comparable to the

human rights regime which, although universal, was dominated by Western intellectuals in its

development. An example of the importance of these rights is found in Sahih Al-Bukhari, to wit:

64
MOHAMED A. ARAFA, ISLAMIC CRIMINAL LAW: THE DIVINE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM BETWEEN LACUNA
AND POSSIBLE ROUTES 104 (2018).
 “It is not permissible to take the life of a Muslim who bears testimony (to the fact that there is

no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, but in one of the three cases: the

married adulterer, a life for life, and the deserter of his Din (Islam), abandoning the

community”.65

With the exceptions of the three instances previously mentioned, the general rule in Islam is that

killing of any innocent human is prohibited. In Surah Al-Isra,66 it is stated that:

“Do not kill a soul [whose life] Allah has made inviolable, except with due cause, and whoever is

killed wrongfully, We have certainly given his heir an authority. But let him not commit any

excess in killing [the murderer], for he has been assisted [by law].”

A general rule is also found in Surah Al-Ma’idah67 which, similar to the previously stated verse,

also provides an exemption for killings of vengeance, to wit:

65
Sahih Al-Bukhari 16:4152.
66
Qur’an 17:33
67
Qur’an 5:32
 “That is why We ordained for the Children of Israel that whoever takes a life—unless as a

punishment for murder or for corruption in the land—it will be as if they killed all of humanity;

and whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity. Although Our messengers

already came to them with clear proofs, many of them still transgressed afterwards through the

land.”

However, it must be repeatedly emphasized that killings of vengeance are only justified against

the person guilty of the killing himself, and in cases like those killings in a rido involving family members

would already fall under the category of killing an innocent. Not to mention, unlike the sporadic

outburst of retaliatory violence in a rido, when determining whether a person is guilty of murder, and

therefore can be killed for vengeance, the Shari’ah has very comprehensive processes and conditions that

must be met.

Like our penal laws, crimes under the Shari’ah also include conditions to be met before a person

can be considered guilty of a crime. After all, human rights and the due process of law are concepts that

are both present in Islamic law. The basic right to live and to respect human life is found in the

aforementioned Surah Al-Ma’idah verse. Meanwhile, the concept of a due process of law is found in the

aforementioned Surah Al-Isra Verse 3368 as well as Surah Al-An’am Verse 151.69 Even in the present

time, in guaranteeing due process and individual justice, Islamic law conforms to international

conventions on the protection of human rights, although it differs in some cases with interpretations of

what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.70

68
Qur’an 17:33.
69
Qur’an 6:151.
70
M.C. BASSIOUNI, THE ISLAMIC CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM (1982).
 B. Blood Money vs. Diat

While the act of rido and retaliative violence that involves even the innocent family members of

the conflicting clans itself are technically not permissible under Islamic laws, the concept of a “Blood

Money” as a means of settling conflicts that resulted to killings is also used by the Meranaws in what

they call as “diat”. However, while the usage of blood money is one of the ways that a Meranaw rido is

settled, they do not directly derive the settlement of conflict from the Islamic ruling on Blood Money.

Instead, the only role that Shari’ah plays in conflict resolution is that it acts as an advisory mechanism to

the council of adjudicators or mediators to aid them in reaching a settlement of the conflicts. In this

way, Shari’ah is not directly applied, but instead used as a legitimizing factor for the council of

adjudicators, supplementary to the taritib-ago-igma. Furthermore, unlike the clear-cut rulings of the

amount of Blood Money to be given for every specific circumstance provided for by Islamic

jurisprudence, the diat used to settle a Rido is flexible and highly negotiable depending on the

conditions of the opposing clans.

V. Convergence of the three Legal Systems

“Pasad” or Rido Settlement

Before a settlement or “pasad” is reached, mediators or arbitrators usually initiate the idea of

reconciliation. Historically, the arbitrators are composed of the local town elders or traditional and/or

religious leaders. But through the years, the Local Government Units and the Philippine Army have also

taken a role of initiating the settlement process, as illustrated in previously given examples. The

arbitrators would first talk with both sides of the warring parties if they are willing to talk about a
settlement of the rido. Once they agree, the aggrieved party would then demand a diat or blood money,

to which the initial offender must fulfill. If the offender cannot pay the diat in full, the arbitrators may

also provide the amount necessary to fulfill what’s demanded. Once an agreement has been agreed with,

they would then hold a kandori (celebration), where they enter into a “sapa” or an oath to Allah, placing

their hand on the Holy Qur’an, and promising to end the violence against each other. This oath-taking

ceremony where a rido settlement is finalized is made in the presence of the arbitrators, and the

Philippine Army or law enforcement, even if the latter is not part of the arbitrators, for purposes of

security should negotiations fail unexpectedly.

It must be noted, however, that just like crimes, the nature of a rido varies depending on the

circumstances too. Consequently, the settlement process would also vary depending on the unique

circumstances in the rido. What’s evident however, is that in every rido settlement, the Philippine State

and Islam would always play a role in it, albeit a supporting one, because it is still the traditional legal

system that is followed, while the other two are only incorporated into the traditional settlement process.

While the Islamic legal system only serves an “advisory” role in rido settlement specifically on

the side of the arbitrators in order to legitimize the reasoning behind their negotiations, legal cases of a

crime that was committed because of a rido rarely prosper. Because the Meranaws can avail of their own

traditional system of conflict resolution, the only time they take a criminal offense to court is when a

pasad seems highly unlikely. But at the end of the day, rido does not end with criminal proceedings,

because the Philippine legal system does not cater to the unique context of these crimes.

Thus, oftentimes, even when a criminal case is in its pendency, the parties still opt for an out-of-

court settlement via a pasad. And this may give the judiciary and the prosecution the dilemma of
whether to let the case prosper to uphold the Philippine justice system, or to recognize the rido

settlements for the sake of peace and to prevent further bloodshed, as mentioned previously in this

paper. Nevertheless, this dilemma is an example of the problems that arise from legal hybridity. Because

the problem of up to what extent may one legal system allow itself to give way to the other, and up to

what extent should they intervene in order to uphold their own rules, arises.

In a legally hybrid system, the system that is more suited to cater to the issue plays a more

dominant role than the rest. In this case, since the Rido is something that both the Philippine and Islamic

laws do not specifically provide for, the traditional legal system of the Meranaws becomes the dominant

system used for attaining justice in a Rido conflict.

The problem is the ambiguity of the “legal hybridity” of the justice system itself. Because while

the State recognizes Shari’ah and as of recently through the BOL, the traditional justice systems as well,

they still do not extend to matters of a gravely criminal nature, like clan wars. And while this distinction

is clear, where it becomes ambiguous is the State’s actions of being involved in this traditional means of

conflict resolution, in spite of it not being legally recognized under Philippine law. Because even though

the State has not “legalized” it, their involvement in the resolution of said conflicts under a legally hybrid

system has, one way or another, “systematized” it.

Conclusion

As Philippine legal history would reveal, the interwoven relationship between culture and law

will always be a major feature of our legal system. In Islamic law, this relationship is further established

in the inseparable connection of religion and law, coalescing into the Shari’ah. With the rise and further
institutionalization of legal hybridity in the Philippines, Islamic practices were legalized under Shari’ah,

specifically under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines. Still, this is but one tiny aspect

of Shari’ah Law. In other matters, like Criminal Law for example, the Shari’ah is not recognized in the

Philippines. The Shari’ah that is recognized in the Philippines is only that on Persons and Family

Relations. In the same manner, the traditional system has been recognized under the Bangsamoro

Organic Law, but only towards civil issues, and not those of criminal nature, like the widely opposed

rido, which is a violent extrajudicial settlement done between clans, and arising usually out of political

reasons. Due to the silence of the laws on the matter, rido has never fully reached the status of an exigent

national issue, although it remains as a life-threatening issue for the Meranaws.

Deinla’s study of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Philippines, points

to how hybrid justice mechanisms have developed to cope with insecurity arising from actual and

perceived injustices in the community71. This is evident in the settlement of Rido conflicts, as discussed

in this paper. Clearly, the Rido settlements of today—taking into account the Philippine legal system

and Islamic law, both of which have incorporated itselves into the Meranaw society through the course

of history—have evolved from the purely traditional way it used to be. In the past, the traditional justice

system alone prevailed during the reign of the Confederate States of Lanao. There was no divide between

the culture and the justice system, because they were all under the same State. But because of the

historical events that led to the abolishment of the Meranaw States, the State and the legal system (under

the Philippines) are now detached from the culture (of the Meranaws). Which is why, in today’s Lanao

71
Imelda Deinla, (In)security and Hybrid Justice Systems in Mindanao, Philippines, in Hybridity on the Ground in
Peacebuilding and Development (2018).
under the Philippine State, the Meranaws found themselves in a legally hybrid system, which has

continually evolved to cope with the injustices that they face.