SADANGA, Mountain Province: The road to lasting peace between the Betwagan tribe of this municipality and the Butbut tribe in the nearby town of Tinglayan Kalinga remains challenging amid ongoing efforts to end the decades-old conflict.

Sadanga Mayor Adolf Ganggangan, however, disclosed that there had been no reports of skirmish and harassment involving members of the feuding tribes for several months now.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed that members of both tribes have heeded our call for the peaceful settlement of the long-standing dispute so that lasting peace will reign in their communities in the future,” Ganggangan said.

The mayor admitted that local officials still fear that the conflict may escalate even after the municipality had been declared under a state of calamity since May 9, because of the “bad blood” between the Betwagan and Butbut tribes.

Ganggangan said that more dialogues will likely be done between the conflicting parties in the presence of government and law enforcement officials to allow the parties to find solutions to have lasting peace in the said communities.

He said that both parties are already fully aware of their positions on the said conflict and that they also hold the key to resolve the dispute in a peaceful and orderly manner so that the people from both tribes could resume their economic activities without fear of being harassed or even killed.

Under Resolution 51-23, the municipal council placed the entire Sadanga under a state of calamity on the ground of tribal conflict, a human-induced hazard disrupting normal socioeconomic activities and creating extraordinary fear and panic among the people.