Philippines Denied Observer Status in OIC
In 2004, the Philippine government had the funny idea that it should be granted an OBSERVER STATUS at the OIC instead of the MNLF. Finally, after FIVE YEARS, the OIC said “NO!”.
Surprisingly, our neighbor INDONESIA supported the Philippine proposal. The Philippines also got the support of US-occupied Iraq and Anglo-American-controlled island of Bahrain. If the Bahrainis can have country of its own, it is a crime that the Bangsa Moro nation is still fighting to have country to call its own.
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25 May 2009
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) decided not to grant the Philippines observer status at its opening session. The Philippines first applied for an observer status way back in 2004, but it has yet to be approved.
The OIC’s 36th meeting of foreign ministers, which was held in Syrian capital city of Damascus, ended on Sunday.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a Philippine opposition group which is campaigning against observor status for the Philippines, claims that Turkey led the group of countries which opposed the Philippine bid for observer status. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Yemen strongly supported Turkey’s position. The reason the MILF gives for their opposition is the ongoing problems between the government and the country’s Moro Muslim minority.
However, Indonesia, the traditional ally of the Philippines, asked OIC foreign ministers to grant the Philippines an observer status. The motion was seconded by Bahrain and Iraq.
The Philippines sent a 33-man delegation to the conference. Two opposition groups, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) sent 22 delegates, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) sent only three.
MILF said Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, the chairman, wrote official letters to the foreign ministers of Muslim states, requesting them to oppose the Philippine bid.
The Philippine government denies they were denied observer status due to the ongoing problems with the country’s Muslim minorities and dismiss such claims as MILF propaganda.
Philippine Foreign Affairs undersecretary Rafael Seguis maintained that all OIC member states welcome the Philippines’ admission as observer.
“Some of them, however, would like to defer admission on procedural basis, reason being that rules for observer status under new Islamic Charter have not been adopted yet while many others want to admit GRP now,” Seguis said in a text message to reporters.
Sequis is currently in Damascus, Syria after attending the 36th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM). He is also the head of the government panel negotiating with the MILF.
Seguis hastened to add that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines has no wish to replace the MNLF in the OIC as observer, but seeks to work closely with the Islamic group as well as the MNLF in an atmosphere of cooperation that will bring about peace and development, and where all sides are given the chance to be heard.
CONTINUING MORO OPPRESSION
courtesy of MediaBangsaMoro
NO NEWS ON MINDANAO WAR?
It has been months since the non-signing of the Memo of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the Gorvernment of the Republic of the Philppines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The uproar against it led by a Christian settler in Mindanao (Pinol) , one Ilonggo senator (Roxas) and one Ilonggo former senator and Senate President (Drilon) became so great that President Arroyo backed out of the agreement and the Supreme Court declared it illegal.
Piqued by the government’s refusal to sign the agreement after almost four years of negotiations, two commanders of the MILF, Commanders Bravo and Kato allegedly went down from the hills and attacked a couple of Christian villages . The government answered with all the might and fury it could muster.
To promote the protest against the MOA-AD, the media bombarded the people with reports of the fighting in Mindanao, putting the blame on the two commanders who the government and the media called “rogue” elements of the MILF.
Funny thing is, while the MILF did not disown the two commanders, they announced that they would not join the fighting since they were still hoping for peace.
Was this another moro-moro (farcical stage play)? The government had a heyday of blowing away Moro villages and people while they claimed to hunt for the two commanders.
Now that the Supreme Court had declared the MOA unconstitutional, the media had stopped reporting on the clashes in Mindanao.
So what’s going on there now?
Here’s what the MILF website luwaran.com says:
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Government terroristic aerial bombings kill civilian, farm animals
The Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) unleashed again the brunt of her terrorism against the aggrieved and oppressed Bangsamoro people. Four innocent civilians were brutally wounded and one was killed by the indiscriminate air strikes of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in some barangays of Datu Saudi Ampatuan and Mamasapano, Maguindanao.
Killed by this inhuman state terrorism was Sindak Ismael, 30 years old. The wounded civilians were identified as Haja Bai Masla Zangkala, 45 years old, Haja Apisa Ibrahim, 47 years old, Rudy Kamsa, 23 years old and Fatima Kamsa, 12 years old elementary pupil.
Seven (7) farm animals were also killed by the government air strikes using three (3) war planes.
There was no actual ground forces encounter when the government aircrafts came to fire their bombs which killed and wounded innocent civilians.
“This government is killing us,” said Abdul Kamsa, relative of the victims.
“We are calling on the authorities and international communities to look into these government atrocities against civilians and to give justice to the victims,” he said.
Workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) were witness to the brutal indiscriminate air strikes being unleashed by the government war planes against innocent civilians.
The ICRC people were distributing claim stubs for their relief assistance for the affected persons when the bombs fell at nearby village.
“Even ICRC people had been actually experiencing the deliberate violation of International Humanitarian Laws and human rights by the government,” conveyed a human rights expert to Luwaran.
“Certainly, no amount of development and relief assistance from the donor countries and agencies can make up for the deliberate killings, sufferings and devastations inflicted on more than half a million innocent civilians by the indiscriminate military actions of the government,” he said.
The aerial bombing stopped after five (5) in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Moro civilians in Barangay Rangeban, Midsayap, Cotabato are being fired upon by the Bantay Bayan or armed civilians of Midsayap everytime they go to their farms.
Accordingly, these Muslim civilians had been complaining to authorities but no action had been made to stop the Bantay Bayan, an act construed as condoning the criminal acts against the oppressed Muslim civilians.
In Basilan, the AFP war planes bombarded the MILF forces in some barangays of Maluso. This again had proven that the military actions of the government are not only against the forces of Commander Umbra Kato and Commander Bravo but against the entire MILF.
MILF’s Umbra Kato on YouTube
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) Commander Umbra Kato is alleged by the government to be a “lost command” of the MILF and is being relentlessly pursued by the Philippine military.
In this video interview done on Sept. 23, 2008, Kato, who says he’s the Commanding officer of MILF’s 105th commans, insists that he is not a “lost command” and challenges the people who says he is to texplain or define what is “lost command.”
On July 1 of this year, he says, the soldiers invaded his colleagues who are “living silently in their own place”. He says that his friends simply fought back.
He accuses the military of terrorism, saying that driving people out of their place is a terrorist act. He says that they had to fight back because they have nowhere else to go. If they go to Luzon or Visayas (the other islands in the archipelago), the people of Luzon and Visayas would be angrier as they would not want them (Kato et al) to claim their lands.
Here, Kato is alluding to the basic cause of the conflict – the people of Luzon and Visayas have occupied Mindanao and now claims it for themselves.
The interviewer asked Kato why the government put a price on his head – 10 million pesos.
Kato answered that it is an indication that the government has already run out of tactics to employ against him. They (the military) used air strikes, artiller, ground forces with heavy weapons and armored vehicles. “But we are still here,” he says.
Putting a bounty on somebody’s head is an old tactic used by the “enemies of Islam”, Kato says. He explained that even the enemies of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) had put a bounty on the prophets head worth say, 100 camels.
When asked why the conflict escalated to other parts of Maguindanao, Kato answered that he thinks it has been the plan of President Arroyo to start trouble in Mindanao to justify the non-signing of the MOA.
PHIL. ARMED FORCES BURN MORO HOUSES, KILL CIVILIANS
September 11, 2008
Some seven houses of civilians were reportedly burned down by the government forces in Barangay Sambulawan, Datu Piang, Maguindanao last September 9, 2008 at 4pm . Owners hit government soldiers “direct and indirect” involvement in this atrocities.
Makmod, one of the victims, chided on the unabated burning of houses that had took place right before the eyes of the military.
Hundreds of houses had been charred down in the provinces of North Cotabato and Maguindanao since the government launched joint police and military actions against the MILF in early August this year.
But these government operations had not been yielding decisive success despite employing excessive forces and incurring big deficits to national coffer.
Now, not less than a hundred thousands of Muslim civilians, to include children and aged, are still staying and severely suffering inside more one hundred evacuation sites and makeshifts along the roads and under the trees.
This poor constituency from this part of the country had long been deprived of government basic services and now what they are getting from the government are bombs and bullets in the wake of brutal indiscriminate ferocious military onslaught.
Cases of various illnesses had been rising and many more will meet their death at evacuation, according to reports of social and health workers.
Displaced communities are afraid to go back to their residences due to absence of security assurance yet the government has not indicated when to stop its operations.
Six civilians were hit and killed by the air strikes of the Armed Forces of the Philippines at Barangay Tee, Datu Piang, Maguindanao. Two other civilians were also wounded during the air strikes.
That incident clouded even further the desire of the civilians to go back to their respective communities.
Hundred of farmers in Maguindanao are calling on the government to allow them to go back to their farms to harvest what remains to their produce. But unfortunately, the military had been ignoring the plea. Accordingly, the military are avoiding exposure of the extent of damages on civilian properties and sources of livelihood created by the gruesome government operations.
All concerned institutions, to include international bodies, must immediately look into to the prevailing plight of the civilians in the middle of ongoing military operations particularly in Maguindanao in order to avert occurrence of impending humanitarian crisis.
Media outfits being the “fiscalizers” are urged to document, report and expose the excesses, conduct unbecoming and human rights violations being committed by militaries and government authorities against Muslim communities down south of Philippines.
Certainly, the government is failing, if not the ultimate cause, of the looming humanitarian problem during this blessed month of Ramadhan.
FOR MORO AGREEMENTS:PLEBISCITE FOR MOROS ONLY
The stalled and now very controversial GRP-MILF AGREEMENT has made many things apparent. First is the extreme dislike of the Christian majority to give the Moros any semblance of distinct identity. They still maintain and promote the myth of the one-nation one-people. That is of course understandable because they are the great majority. They get all the advantages while the Bangsa Moro people slowly but surely are driven into oblivion.
Second, it showed the apparent naivety of the Moros to believe in the sincerity of the government and the political and constitutional processes. Agreeing to a PLEBISCITE in specific locations is a very bad idea. And Congress – both houses – could never be hoped to craft a law favoring the Bangsa Moro’s real aspirations.
TERRITORY
The Bangsa Moro Homeland or territory must be composed of, at the MINIMUM, the areas specified in the Tripoli Agreement of 1976. Nothing less.
At most, it should be the land territory of the Sultanate of Maguindanao, Sultanate of Sulu, Rajaship of Buayan, the Maranao Confederacy and other Moro datuships as of 1898, the signing of the Treaty of Paris between America and Spain. This is because Spain had absolutely no right to cede what was not theirs. The Americans realized this and so they signed a separate treaty (the Bates Treaty) with the Sultan of Sulu.
Or, let the territory be according to the Moro Province created by the Americans which comprised all territory lying south of the 8th parallel latitude except Palawan and the eastern portion of the northwest peninsula of Mindanao. This includes the whole of Lanao, Davao, Cotabato, Zamboanga and Sulu before these provinces were dismembered later.
But Palawan was given to the Sultan of Sulu by the Sultan of Brunei at the same time as Sabah. If Palawan could not be part of the Bangsa Moro homeland, it should be given back to its first owners – Brunei — or be part of the Malaysian Federation like Sabah.
There was neither rhyme nor reason for the Americans to give the Moro province to the Philippines to form a Philippine Republic in 1946.
The Moro Province was NEVER a part of the Philippine Revolution of 1896 or 1898 or the Philippine Republic of Aguinaldo.
A cursory glance at history – real history not the fiction of Most Filipino historians – show that the Moros and Indios were never one people. Never until 1946. But the various Moro rebellions and the MNLF and MILF wars show that the Moros are not satisfied with being a second-class citizen in the Philippine Republic.
The ARMM territory is not recognized by most Moros as the totality of their Homeland.
PLEBISCITE
If future negotiations would occur, the Moros should insist that a plebiscite must be FOR MOROS ONLY. That is, only Moros should be asked because it concerns their future, their lands, their inheritance and legacy. And they are the indigenous peoples of Mindanao and Sulu.
They are the ones struggling for self-determination. The settlers have no business participating in such plebiscites or referenda.
The non-Muslim indigenous inhabitants of Mindanao and Sulu should of course be asked, too. Historically, they had always been considered Moros or Moro allies.
Moreover, there are MORE Moros living outside ARMM than those living in the ARMM. The plebiscite therefore should include ALL MOROS ALL OVER THE PHILIPPINES.
WHO ARE THE MOROS?
Perhaps it would also be better to define who the Moros are. Maybe a good definition would be the following:
A Moro is anyone who has at least one parent or two grand parents who are full-blooded Moros.
A full-blooded Moro is one whose parents (father and mother) were born in Mindanao to Muslim parents indigenous to Mindanao.
Exception to this rule are the members of indigenous peoples of Mindanao who are usually referred to as Moros but many of whom are non-Muslims like the Yakans.
NO MORE AGREEMENTS
The Tripoli and Jakarta Agreements with the MNLF did not solve the Moro Problem. Neither will the agreement with the MILF.
The aspirations for a true and real freedom will always be in the heart of every Moro, even those who kowtow to the powers that be. There will be no peace in Mindanao if the Moros continue to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune simply because they are Moros.
The Moros need to unite and petition the United Nation for DECOLONIZATION and ask it to conduct a plebiscite for the Moros. They can also petition the OIC to help them in the U.N.
If the UN could create a state for the European Jews in Palestine and call it Israel, and could create a country called Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, which was nothing but a neglected trading post in the colonial times, then it should be easier to create a sovereign Bangsa Moro Federal State which has territory, people, and a long history as independent and sovereign states.
MILF – GRP AGREEMENT: DEATH TO PEACE AGREEMENTS
From Reflections on the Bangsa Moro
“Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let loose the dogs of war.”
Now that the cat is out of the bag, the dogs are let loose. For years, the GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have been hammering out a peace agreement that would satisfy both parties. This has been done under the auspices of the Malaysian government with the blessings and cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
But was it really done to satisfy both parties? Or was the MILF merely hoodwinked into believing that the Philippine government was sincere? Because of the so-called peace process, which is what the GRP-MILF negotiations is called, the MILF has been co-opted into a “non-revolutionary” existence and abiding by the Ceasefire Agreement.
Yet while the ‘peace process’ was going on, the government’s propaganda machine continually picture the MILF as a band of bandits, allied with the Abu Sayyaf, responsible for killings and bombings including beheading 10 Marines. At least twice, Philippine courts issued warrants of arrests for MILF leaders, including the top leadership, as if they were ordinary criminals subject to Philippine laws.
But the MILF persevered in the ‘peace process’. And just when they were about to cross the finish line, the cat was let out of the bag, and the dogs are everywhere ready to tear it to pieces.
TRIPOLI AGREEMENT ET AL
The MILF should have learned from the Tripoli Agreement. The Moros were winning the war in the 1970s. President Marcos begged for a Ceasefire. The Tripoli Agreement was signed. Then Marcos distorted the Agreement by claiming “constitutional process”. Everything the Moros fought for was turned upside down by the government which gave the Moros a non-autonomous “autonomous government” instead.
When Marcos left, Cory Aquino completed Marcos’s “constitutional process” via the 1987 Constitution and Organic Act (RA 6734) to systemically destroy the Tripoli Agreement. Together with my brother and other Moros, we filed a petition at the Supreme Court (GR 89651) questioning the Organic Act. Of course, the court ruled against us.
Our prime argument was that the Tripoli Agreement was an international treaty and binding to the Philippine government. It was thus part of the law of the land.
And since the Tripoli Agreement was in conflict with the Organic Act, the Organic Act should be deemed invalid.
The Supreme Court did not rule on the validity of the Tripoli Agreement but it declared:
Assuming for the sake of argument that the Tripoli Agreement is a binding treaty or international agreement, it would then constitute part of the law of the land. But as internal law it would not be superior to R.A. No. 6734, an enactment of the Congress of the Philippines, rather it would be in the same class as the latter … Thus, if at all, R.A. No. 6734 would be amendatory of the Tripoli Agreement, being a subsequent law.
From this ruling, it would seem that the government can sign any treaty or agreement with the Moros, and simply pass a subsequent law that would radically amend it. As simple as that.
The Organic Act was the final straw that broke the Tripoli Agreement. Because of the Organic Act, the Bangsa Moro homeland was reduced to a handful of provinces and did not even include Cotabato City. At first, even Marawi City opted out but joined the ARMM later.
JAKARTA ACCORD AND MISUARI’S FALL
In 1996, Misuari was persuaded (some say strong-armed) to sign the Jakarta Accord and to come back to the Philippines. And so he did amidst the applause of Filipinos, OIC leaders and some Moros.
But the honeymoon was short-lived. From a virtual head-of-state recognized by many Muslim countries, Nur Misuari was ignominiously arrested and imprisoned by the Philippine government for years. Only recently, Misuari was released on bail and is now drumming up support in Mindanao.
Misuari, presumably, opposes the GRP-MILF pact. He says he has nothing to do with it.
AN END TO ALL AGREEMENTS
The recent developments have shown to all and sundry – including foreign observers – that the Philippine government cannot be trusted with peace agreements. The Philippine government will sign a million peace agreements but it will never abide by them. This has been proven by the Tripoli Agreement, the Jakarta Accord, the Final Peace Agreement and now, the Agreement on Ancestral Domain.
It is high time that the Bangsa Moro people wake up to reality.
NO WAR – NO PEACE
The no peace-no war situation is Mindanao should stop as it has been hindering the growth of the country and hampering the lives of the people. While our Asian neighbors leapfrog into 21st century as newly industrialized countries and world’s leading economies, the Philippine government last year trumpeted as its greatest achievement a GDP growth of 7.3 % — its highest since 1976, the year the Tripoli Agreement was signed and the country was in the grip of Martial Law.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Philippines was the second most progressive economy in Asia (next only to Japan). But then the Mindanao war erupted. And from then on the Philippines has become “the sick man of Asia.” Isn’t there a clear connection?
From the 1970s to today, the standard of living of our Asian neighbors – Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India, etc. have improved hundreds-fold. While the poor Filipino standard of living has even declined such that the government last year was so happy to have reached a GDP growth it hasn’t had since the 1970s. This is a crime to the people of the Philippines.
And the only reason that that GDP growth was achieved was because millions of Filipinos have to slave away abroad, working hard to earn precious dollars and send them to their relatives back home.
A stop to the no-war no-peace situation in Mindanao is the only way for the country to develop as it will stop the billions of pesos spent on military spending, encourage foreign investments in the country and promote tourism in Mindanao and elsewhere.
But there will be no peace if the Bangsa Moro peoples will be deprived of their heritage, culture, lands and resources as well as the opportunities for a decent way of life.
The RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION
It is the right of every nation, every people to determine its own destiny, its own path. The Bangsa Moro cannot rely on the other party’s good faith.
One peaceful way for the Bangsa Moro people is to petition the United Nations to conduct a clean and honest Referendum for and by the Moro people to determine what they want – Independence, Greater Autonomy in a Federal State or Integration with the dominant Filipino people in one nation-state. And everybody should abide by the results.
The alternative to real peace is real war.
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MORO homeland is Mindanao, Sulu, Palawan
The GRP – MILF Peace Agreement — on Ancestral Domain has the Indios – otherwise known as Filipinos — up in arms against their government. They are aghast that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines ((GRP) has agreed to give a few hundred square kilometers of territory to what would be called the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE).
But the territory mentioned in that agreement is nothing compared to the Bangsa Moro homeland envisioned in the Tripoli Agreement. In the the Tripoli Agreement, the Homeland is composed of 13 (now 14 since Sarangani was made into a new province) provinces; namely: Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Davao del Sur, Palawan and South Cotabato, which included Sarangani and all the cities in those provinces.
In the Final Peace Agreement signed between the GRP and the MNLF in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1996 states that it constitutes “the full implementation of the 1976 Tripoli Agreement in letter and spirit…”
The MILF – GRP agreement therefore adds nothing to the moro territory. Instead, it greatly reduced it by agreeing to have only the present ARMM and a few more villages.
The Bangsa Moro homeland is based on historical rights. The Sultanate of Maguindanao and Sulu and the Rajaship of Buayan were recognized by foreign powers — the British, Spanish and Dutch empires. Even the US had treaties with the Sultanate of Sulu. The Ranao Confederacy (Pat a Pangampung ku Ranaw) was never conquered by the Spaniards. In fact, Spain’s only claim to Mindanao was the establishment of a few forts peopled with a sprinkling of Spaniards and settlements of Indios from the Visayas.
Spain had absolutely no right to cede Moroland to the Americans in the 1898 Treaty of Paris because it had not conquered Moroland.
America realized that fact so it signed the Bates Treaty with the Sulu Sultanate afterwards.
In 1946, America had no right to include Moroland to the Philippines when it granted the Indios independence.
In a bizarre twist of fate, the unconquered Moroland became the colonies of the former subject peoples of Spain and America, the Indios who now call themselves Filipinos.
With laws such as the “Colonization of Mindanao Act”, the Indios promptly colonized Moroland by sending millions of Indios to grab the lands and resources of the indigenous peoples of Moroland.
The 1968 Jabidah Massacre and the series of massacres that followed in the early 1970s woke the Moro people from a long slumber. And so the Moros rose up as a people in the 1970s.
The Tripoli Agreement, the Jakarta Accord and the MILF-GRP MOA are but mere setbacks in the centuries-long struggle of the Moros for Freedom, Islam and Homeland.
ABU SAYYAF NOT IN BASILAN – Cong. Akbar
Below is the Basilan congressman’s privilege speech in Congress where he emphatically asserts, among others, that the ABU SAYYAF IS NO LONGER IN BASILAN
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PRIVILEGE SPEECH
CONG. WAHAB M. AKBAR
Lone District, Basilan
14th Congress
July 31, 2007
Plenary Hall
House of Representatives
I
Mr.Speaker, thanks to the Almighty, the Owner and the Sustainer of the world. I praise Him and I thank Him and I beg for His guidance in order for me to perform my duties and responsibilities as Representative of my people and to abide by the Principles and Policies as Legislator. I would like also to thank my people for the opportunity they have given me by sending me to the 14th Congress through their votes.
II
Mr. Speaker, Basilan, which I humbly represent has lately been called “THE LAND OF THE ABU SAYYAF, the land of the beheaders, the land of the kidnappers .With firm recognition and due respect to the office of the President, the military organization and the MILF, I do not mean that, through this message, my ability, my opinion and my judgment would be perceived as more preferred over theirs. NO! That is never my intention. I recognize my limitations and my weaknesses. Perhaps I may be wicked than them before the eyes of the Almighty, but then again, this is an issue between me and the Almighty. God forbid and may God forgive me. Mine is just a matter of personal view and opinion as well as concern involving my province, as well as analyses of what would be the repercussion on any action taken without our firm and direct participation and explicit recognition of our ideas in the decision making and integrating the same in solving the ongoing problems of our province. According to Omar Mukhtar in the film “The Lion of the Dessert” and I quote – “After all , nothing can beat the natives except the natives.” – unquote.
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VI
My knowledge about Basilan is not based on conjecture and biased speculations, not based on flimsy and ridiculous studies and simulated ground exercises. Neither is it based on results of impartial researches of its customs and traditions. And certainly not based on self-serving analyses of its socio-economic problems, but rather, based on my five (5) senses which I was born with. I know this because I am BASILAN. I say I am Basilan because I was delivered to this world by my beloved mother through the aid of traditional midwifery like the other natives and most natives of which such practice is still adopted up to now in the remotest barangays among the uneducated people and the poor ones.
VII
I say I am it, because I went through every level of their way of living and walks of life. In my early age my family transferred from Lantawan municipality to Maluso municipality at a certain barangay named Gaunan Island, I learned swimming and fishing at the age of six (6) because my family was poor, just like any other ordinary boy there. I had no choice but to learn fishing at that early stage, again, just like the other children in all coastal barangays. When I went to school at the age of Seven (7), I used to report to my classes even without slippers, again, just like them. After reaching the fourth grade I had no choice but to transfer to capital town of Maluso . Initially,I had to pay the motorized bancas every morning when we go to the school and every afternoon when we return. So, to avoid paying the same, I had no recourse but to devote my time during Saturdays and Sundays at that tender age working as a “bangkero” of the motorized bancas. I also had to sell popsicles (Ice Drop) for additional income.
VIII
In 1970, when the war started in Mindanao I had no recourse but to join my father as revolutionary at the age of thirteen (13), so at the age of 13, 14, 15, I was already among the revolutionaries involving several encounters facing the military, listening to the deafening sounds of artilleries and canons and the roaring sounds of mortars and bazookas and facing the rain-like bullets of the enemies.
IX
In 1974, my father returned to the folds of the law because of discriminatory practices among the rank and files of the MNLF. And because President Ferdinand Marcos then, sent fillers to convince him to return to the folds of the government.
X
Throughout my life I was a laborer, I was a driver, I was an operator of heavy equipment, I was a bakery owner, I was a fishpond owner, I was a fish broker, I was a banana broker, I was a cigarette smuggler, I was a coconut harvester, I was a rebel, I was a student of an agricultural school at the Gregorio Araneta University Foundation then. I was an activist against Marcos, we were even imprisoned for forty (40) days at Bicutan, Taguig. I was a student for Islamic Theology in Syria for five (5) years, I was a preacher, I was the deputy commander of the 2nd Mobile Army of MNLF which my commander is the DOLE-ARMM Secretary now based on my recommendation to the Regional Governor of the ARMM.
XI
There were even several months in my life I ate kangkong and cassavas only and several months in my life I ate only porridge with salt and several months in my life I ate cassava with pepper and salts. My wife, the incumbent Governor is my very witness to this fact.
XII
I lived my younger years in Lantawan Municipality, grew-up in Maluso Municipality and matured in Isabela City, I have a lot of uncles and aunties and relatives in Sumisip, because my grandfather used to marry many. My grandfather from my mother side is from Tuburan Municipality that’s why I have many relatives in that area, I used to visit their place. My grandfather from the other side is from Tipo-Tipo that’s why I stayed in Tipo-Tipo for number of years. Therefore my experience is rich. And therefore I say I know Basilan more than anybody else, hence, I am it.
XIII
My 5 senses, my bone, my flesh, my blood, my skin, are progeny of Basilan.
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XVIII
Mr. Speaker, the Al-Barka Municipality in which the previous incident occurred, such as the intrusion of the Marines into MILF area despite the ceasefire agreement between the MILF and the government. I say this is intrusion because there was no coordination made to the sitting local government officials prior to their entry into the area. This uncoordinated act on the side of the military is an act of negligence; shows lack of foresight and perhaps may even show lack of PROFESSIONALISM. Had they, perhaps coordinated with us, we could have even appraised them on the actual situation obtaining thereat, which could have even prevented the incident therein.
On the beheading of the 10 Marines, I vehemently state that said act is not only condemnable to the sane people but even condemned plainly and clearly by Qu’ran and Hadith. Let me quote a story of (saidina abubakar) when he sent expedition to Tabuk. He said, in Arabic word “Ya Jaid, la takhquunuw wala tagdiruw wala tagulluw wala tumassiluw wala tagtuluw tiplan aw-imraatan aw-saykhan wala tahriquow nahlan wala taqtau sajaratan. ”Meaning “Oh Jaid, do not betray, do not grab against each other for booty, do not mutilate, do not kill children or women or old folks, do not burn trees and do not cut trees.” So treachery, betrayal, fighting each other over the booty, mutilation, killing of children and women and old folks, burning of trees and cutting of trees are emphasized in Islamic Law. Hence never impute such barbaric act as the act of a Muslim but it is an act of ignorance resulting from the negligence of the government since time immemorial. This is a classic case of the law on Cause and Effect. It is hoped that such negligence be addressed now.
XIX
Mr. Speaker, the beheading of the ten (10) Marines was prominently mentioned in the news; however, they conveniently forgot to mention the tying-up of the Imam and mode of killing him by stabbing his neck with a soldier’s bayonet after being shot.
XX
Again the intrusion and transgression of any party either from the Military or MILF after being agreed upon is also an act of ignorance. And this kind of behavior can never be and will never be a catalyst in gaining the hearts and minds of the Muslims. And can not also serve to soften the stands of the military to the part of the Muslim rebel.
XXI
The conflict in Mindanao started in 1970-71, when I was at the age of 13 then. It is 2007 now, in other words, spanning already a 37 -year old war, from the MNLF, to the MILF and now, with the Abu Sayyaf as well. The government did not win the war, because they failed to win the minds and hearts of the Muslims. Likewise, the Muslims didn’t win the support and sympathy of the government and various NGO’s in the promotions of the development in their areas, because of their persistence in their non-productive ideology and unadaptable manner of dealing with their personal interests.
XXII
Billions and billions of pesos were spent by the government in search for peace, THROUGH WAR! WAR! Mr. Speaker, my distinguished colleagues, through WAR! Through terrible sounds of artilleries, through thunderous sounds of mortars and bazookas, and the unimaginable numbers of bullets from the barrels of machine guns. Lots of damage has been inflicted on both sides, lots of casualties afflicted on both sides, lots of properties destroyed. Numerous women became widows from both sides, numerous children became orphans from both sides, and many civilians either died or suffered injuries. Lots of taxpayers’ money was also spent In short, the collateral damage to the province was huge. YET, THE RESISTANCE AND STUBBORN MENTALITY OF SOME REBELS ARE STILL THERE, and the solutions to peace through WAR HAD BECOME AN EXPENSIVE YET A DISASTROUS MONOTONY.
XXIII
Billions of pesos were budgeted to military personnel, logistics and ammunitions in order to kill Filipino Muslim rebels, to punish them in the search for peace, but where is PEACE now? IT STILL REMAINS TO BE ELUSIVE.
XXIV
Meaning, pursuing peace through war cannot be a solution and can never be employed as an effective means to an end.
XXV
Had we used this money for development and education instead of using it for killing them? They who are also victims of IGNORANCE and NEGLIGENCE? Had we used this money in order to let the Filipino-Muslims feel that their existence is equally important to the existence of the Christians, that there is no double standard in our society? Perhaps, they would be now productive citizens of the Filipino land, and we would have won their minds and hearts by now.
XXVI
Intrusion under peace agreement is an act to shoo away the MILF and perhaps the Muslims from coming closer to the folds of the government.
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XL
Mr. Speaker, in Lantawan Municipality , 8 barangays could be likened to a “NO MAN’S LAND” due to the presence of the Abu Sayyaf in the area for 8 years before me. Series of kidnapping continued since the attack of Ipil Town . Before this August Body, I would claim that 80% of the Muslims are sympathetic to the Abu Sayyaf. This is what I inherited from my predecessor, the former Deputy Speaker of this House.
XLI
It was indeed a big challenge on my part, to be besieged on all fronts by Abu Sayyaf, by poverty, by the false accusations of the military, and my political adversaries.
XLII
Thank God and thanks to Malacanang, likewise to the professional military and policemen, thanks to local officials and thanks to all who supported me. And after two terms of my administration my programs were able to win the hearts and minds of most Basileños.
XLIII
Abu Sayyaf is now nowhere to be found. And I would like to request the media to refrain from mentioning the presence of Abu Sayyaf in my province, for there is no Abu Sayyaf now in my province but there are still Abu Sayyaf-like attitude such as the Lost Command or even worst than abusayyaf such as the beheaders of the 10 Marines. And to stop branding Basilan as the land of the Abu Sayyaf for Abu Sayyaf is no longer to be found in my province, sometimes they just come and go but only a few, but no Abu Sayyaf lair exists.
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XLVIII
Now, just into my weeks in Congress, the military are starting to agitate and disturb the province once again by way of sending several battalions I appeal to them that they should realize that their act would cause the people to leave their properties, abandon their plants, destroying their hopes, and the beheaders will just flee away, in due time..
XLIX
Mr. Speaker, we recognize that the beheaders should be brought to justice but not through this way.
L
Mr. Speaker, why should they inflict injury above injuries? Why should they use their budget in search for the beheaders through a huge number of soldiers instead of using it in helping me plant more rubbers so that there will be no beheading in the future? Why wouldn’t they cooperate with the local leaders in order to settle the problem by not inflicting more problems?
LI
Mr. Speaker, solving the problem by inflicting more damages on both sides is not solving problem at all, rather aggravating the problem and driving the tamed civilians to become untamed. This policy to me is distraction and not attraction. After all, the MILF did not attack in their camps, did not ambush them on other areas, but it was them who went into the backyards of the MILF.
LII
Mr. Speaker, if they ran after the beheaders, the beheaders will simply hideaway, will flee away and it will be the MILF who will stand on their way and not the beheaders. As a result, it will cause the derailment of the peace process and cause the name of Basilan and perhaps the entire Mindanao or even the country in bad image to be placed in a bad light.
LIII
Mr. Speaker, I am not partial to the MILF but I want the MILF not to grow and flourish in my place, and by conducting such operations, said act would just be counter-productive. So, such kind of strategy, if they want peace in Basilan, should not be applied if they are really for peace and the betterment of the province.
LIV
Mr. Speaker, I don’t want Basilan to be under the bondage of the MILF Command based in Cotabato but by operating against them won’t decrease their number but rather increase their number and their sympathizers. I am not an analyst from the outside as I’ve stated a while ago, outsiders know nothing about my province.
LV
Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, I appeal for your support to let the military adopt my formula, a formula that would win their minds and their hearts, a formula of a WIN-WIN situation, a formula instead of funding for arms – funding for farms, instead of funding for operation – funding for plantation, instead of funding for bullets – funding for rubber sap. This is what we need in my province in order to free them from the bondage of incorrect ideology, from the bondage of loving their arms more than their wives.
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LVIII
Mr. Speaker, this government should think that Basilan is part of the Philippines . If Basilan feels pain or experience tumults, other parts of the country get involved like what is happening now. So Mr. Speaker, if Cong. Akbar feels pain, I hope the August Body feels the same pain too.
LIX
Again, I am always accused as member and founder of Abu Sayyaf, but because I used my senses positively, this accusation is a ploy of the Saytan (Satan) in order to stop me from getting involved and participate for the interest of Basilan and of the nation. After being Governor for 3 consecutive terms, I am now here in the House of Representatives and having the right time and privilege to say whoever accused me fall under the wings of Saytan (Satan).
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LXI
I therefore conclude that the military interest for peace in Basilan pales in comparison to our interest, we being the most involved, and the most to suffer.
Mr. Speaker, when I joined politics, there were accusations that I was the founder of the bullshit Abu Sayyaf. Nung buhay pa sila, problema ko na, hanggang sa patay na sila problema ko pa rin. This accusation is from time to time repeatedly mentioned by the media. I’m constantly under attack by some columnist especially Ramon Tulfo, I become his pet peeve. My name is always tagged by this and that, such and such. Are they being paid by my detractors? Or they want to attack me because of personal reason? On the advantageous side, I am very grateful to them because they are making my name remembered by the people even if I didn’t pay them. However, they are misleading the people of my personality if I don’t respond to them. It only doesn’t affect me as a person, but if affects my position as Representative.
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LXII
Mr. Speaker, In the light of the things that have just been propounded here by this humble representation, I am formally calling and seeking out your support along with the members of this August Body that this representation, together with the concerted efforts of all local government officials of the province of Basilan be allowed to spearhead the movement, and the corresponding course of action to ultimately address this issue, and using all government resources to run after the beheaders who committed this dastardly act. To pursue the imminent military operations as the hasty solution would add ignominy to the situation. Mr. Speaker, let’s give Peace all chances that it needs if only to ensure the welfare of our children, and the children yet to come in my province. Lastly whatever wisdom I have delivered it’s from the blessings of the Almighty. On the other hand, whatever unfavorable thoughts that I may have said, it’s only personal to me.
LXIII
Mr. Speaker, distinguished colleagues, thank you very much.
