On the 15th, an incident occurred on a street in Mindanao, Philippines, where a verbal altercation between two men escalated into a fatal attack; the assailant used a machete-like blade to strike and kill the unarmed victim. It appears that failing to strictly adhere to the three cardinal rules of knife survival—avoiding combat, maintaining distance, and preventing fatal wounds—drastically reduces one’s chances of survival.
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Knife-related violence persists in Mindanao despite the ban on carrying blades.
In the Philippines, Presidential Decree No. 9 (enacted in 1972) and its amendment, Batas Pambansa (BP) No. 6, generally prohibit the carrying of bladed weapons—such as bolo knives—outside one’s residence, except for legitimate livelihood purposes like farming or demolition work. Even self-defense is rarely accepted as a “justifiable reason,” and violations can result in the confiscation of the weapon as well as imprisonment or fines.
Despite these regulations, street clashes involving bladed weapons remain frequent in Mindanao and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the setting of the recent incident. Clan feuds known as “rido” are deeply rooted in the region as a traditional form of conflict; disputes over land, dowries, or election results often escalate into cycles of retaliation involving knives and firearms. According to the humanitarian data organization ACLED, 161 rido incidents were recorded in BARMM alone between 2023 and April 2026, including an incident in March 2026 where five people died in a clash between clan private militias. This region-specific culture of conflict, existing in the gap between legal regulations and reality, is cited as a contributing factor.
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