Muslims of two different generations talked about the 40-year peace negotiations and prayed for the passing away of one of the great Moro statesmen in Philippine history.

COMELEC Commissioner Elias Yusoph led the student leaders of the Phil. Muslim Students Association, UP Muslim Students Association, Congressional Muslim Interns and Young Moro Professionals Network in a prayer in the House of Representatives Monday for MADKI ALONTO, the first Muslim member of the Presidential Cabinet under Carlos Garcia.

One of the country's Muslim patriarchs, and first governor of Lanao del Sur, MADKI ALONTO passed away Sunday night from a lingering disease in Cotabato City, the seat of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). He turned 90 last October.

His children include Mindanao State University (MSU) Regent Ansary Alonto, former Ambassador and founding MNLF Vice-Chairman Abulkhayr Alonto and four others.

His parents are Lieutenant Governor and Sultan sa Ramain Alauya Adiong Alonto and Bai Alangadi-Alonto.His father, Sultan Alauya Alonto descended from the same branch as Sultan Kudarat of Lanao and Maguindanao, the Iranon ruler who resisted the Iberian onslaught centuries ago. The Sultan eventually became senator during the Commonwealth period. Madki’s maternal side, the Alangadi Clan controlled vast estates and was said to have descended from the royalties of Johore and Brunei. Her mother, Bai Aminah Bariga is also cousin to the Sultan of Maguindanao and the Sultan of Sulu.
Madkis eldest brother Achmad Domocao Alonto became congressman in the undivided Lanao prior to becoming senator . His eldest brother was believed to have been the father of the Islamic Movement , Ansarul Islam during the 60’s which openly resisted the Marcos dictatorship.

A writer Susan Granada writes, "Unlike Maguindanao and Sulu, Lanao has never been united under the rule of one Sultan or ruler. Traditionally, Lanao is divided into four sultanates or indigenous socio-political territories, namely: Bayabao, Masiu, Unayan, and Balo-i, called the Pengampong. Constituting the Pat a Pengampong Ko Ranao, these four states or principalities or encampments are co-equal in power, authority and prestige, and are bound together into a sort of alliance or confederations and governed by the ancient unwritten order called the Taritib. This taritib agreed upon by the founding fathers of the Pengampong defines all levels of organization and relationships among the Maranao communities and the different kinship groups as people and as territorial units. It also guides and directs the whole system of relationships among the “states.” It interlocks persons and places in a network of ceremonial and legal obligations."

With the exception of Balo-i, each Pengampong was divided into suku (districts). These districts were again divided into inged (townships) and each township into several agamas (communities). The agama was the focal point of authority system, the core of early societal organization of the Maranaos. The traditional officials of the agama included the Sultan, the highest rank within the community, or a number of sultans who served and ruled over the agama. The presence of a sultan indicates the independence of this agama from the other agama. Below the rank of the sultan was the Rajah Muda, or Datu a Kabugatan, a position equivalent to the rank of a prime minister. There was always the Imam or religious minister in every agama who performed religious and social functions and ceremonies. There was also the Kali, the judge of the agama court who settled all civil and criminal disputes. The Council of Datus assisted and advised the sultan regarding social,
religious, economic, political and cultural aspects of the agama and its relations to other agamas, the pengampong. The Council of Datus legislated ordinances, or ijma (consensus), approved by the members of the agama concerned. In the course of time, this ijma was handed down from one generation to another and became a traditional law and part of the adat and taritib.

The founding fathers of these pengampongs were considered siblings and it is from this that the present generation of Maranaos traces their line of descent through the salsila, defined to mean the written “chain of descent” or “genealogy” of a people.

Today, the Maranaos classify themselves socially into two: (1) the mala i (big) bangensa or mapia a tao (good people) with royal descent and (2) the mabeba a tao (low people) or the commoners. The most important thing about these classes is that both are included in the salsila from which they can trace their rights and obligations according to their status.

Given their consciousness to a noble rank, the Maranaos are sensitive to maratabat, a code of conduct that controls their behavior. Maratabat is about honor, “face”, dignity, sense of shame, sense of pride, ethics, etiquette, protocol, and self-esteem. It is an age-old guide to social relations, individual and collective action.