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A friend sent these photos. These pictures show victims of the alleged bombing of a village in Maguindanao last September 7. The official Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) statement is: these are collateral damages. They were caught in a crossfire between the Bangsamoro rebels and soldiers. 

dead and pregnant. how much for her life, mrs. arroyo?

Just look at these photos and see for yourself. This is the true costs of the war. Defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro says they still need 80 billion pesos more for the war. I dare ask him–how many more bombs will you allow to be dropped in Mindanao? How many more mortar rounds will your soldiers spend to force the Bangsamoro rebels to drop to their knees? How many more ammo rounds do you possibly need to kill all those people seeking their own land to cultivate for themselves and not for the Lobregats and the Pinons? And how many more soldiers will you send to these deaths in Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte and Cotabato? How many kids can you possibly sacrifice to end this war? A few hundreds?

dead girl, dead future. how many more kids will die due to this war?

The Bangsamoro rebels and government should go back to the negotiating table and talk peace. There’s no justification for all of these deaths. It’s barbaric and always cause underdevelopment.

Like Nero during the burning of Rome, Mrs. Arroyo asked for a thorough probe of what happened. But the photos speak for themselves–there were indiscriminate bombings that happened and its undeniable. The AFP should at least admit that they erred and should not wash their hands on this one. That admission should have at least lessened the impact of this incident. The AFP’s continued denial of this incident further justified the war. 

End the war now!

As the Supreme Court reviews the Memorandum of Agreement, fighting between Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces and Philippine troops continue. Philippine Air Force Chief Lt. General Pedrito Cadugdog said they are ready for an escalation of the war. For its part, rebel forces also declared that they are ready for war. Recently, the National Democratic Front (NDF) said they’ll be supporting the MILF in its fight against government forces. So, this is becoming a very serious civil war, which could spillover other parts of the country, given the fact that the CPP-NPA-NDF has already involved themselves into the war.

And it seems that peace is slowly dissipating, as both the GRP and MILF sides continue stone-walling, with the GRP telling the MILF that it would not sign the agreement under its present form, indicating that it wants a re-negotiation. While on the part of the MILF, it believes the present MOA is the best option and will not go to the peace table for another round of talks. 

Such a situation may, indeed, lead to a full-scale war, which as what New Philippine Revolution wrote could turn into a very nasty one, given that the conflict has a wider area of coverage than Erap’s anti-Muslim war back in 2000. What we must avoid is a further escalation which could turn the entire Mindanao into a magnet for external participation of regional terror groups. This early, there are signs of bombings in key cities, such as Zamboanga, which could be the handiwork of the Jemaah Islamiya.

” If you have it, flaunt it.”–Anne Curtis, Philippine actress, when interviewed by TV Patrol after having been nominated as the Sexiest in this part of the world.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) did exactly that yesterday. They have arms, and lots of it, and they flaunted it by attacking barangays in North Cotabato. Former Congressman Lavina said, the MILF attacked them as early as 18 July, long before the expected signing of the MOA. So this incident, he says, is not a reaction to the botched signing last Tuesday. So, what was it?

What it is is muscle flexing. The MILF wants Filipinos to know that they are worthy of having a belligerent status. Under International law, belligerency means having the means and the power to fight an opposing force. The MILF was granted by this government a status of belligerency. That explains why the MILF was accorded equal status on the negotiating table. To sustain this status, the MILF needs to prove to the world that it has the armed capability to repulse any attack or conduct tactical maneuverings such as this one in North Cotabato. So, they flaunted it.

What the MILF does’nt realize is, they fell into a pathological trap set by this government. By allowing them to neutralize opposition, they are now being pictured as brutes or bullies. Or, more appropriately, bullies deprived of lollipops. That’s their image right now. 

So now, this attack puts them into a very dangerous and untenable situation. Should they push back, they’ll be portrayed by the international community as having weaker or lesser force. If they can’t claim what was allegedly theirs now, how can they do so when they sign the pact? Surely, the international community expects them to have enough force or firepower to neutralize those who’ll threaten their new state. If they can’t flaunt their powers now, they can’t do so even if they have their own government.

If they indeed stay, they risk meeting a tremendous force coming from the sponsored armed civilian groups by those politicians, caciques and landowners not only of North Cotabato but even as far as Negros (as what Sen. Mar Roxas reported in the Manila Times). North Cotabato will become a war magnet, attracting anti-Muslim forces from all over the country. Surely, if that happens, that would risk a national war of such magnitude as to ultimately cripple the entire country.

This is the situation that Gloria and the peace panel obviously did not anticipate. For them, it’s simple. When push comes to shove, they may need to declare Mindanao under a State of National Emergency, or worst, even suspend the writ of habeas corpus and ultimately martial rule. If that happens, that’ll be too late because by that time, the conflict has reached alarming proportions that no amount of state action is enough to regain peace and order.

AS OF THIS WRITING, the MILF has decided, to their best interest, to “reposition” their troops in North Cotabato.

I take particular exception to the statement yesterday of former AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon. During his verbal tussle with North Cotabato Vice Governor and war hawk Manny Pinol, he told ABS-CBN DZMM anchors Ted Failon and Korina Sanchez that he’ll be the last person to “give up Mindanao that easily”. That’s a slip of the tongue and the other side of the peace panel should give it particular note.

If the peace adviser himself is NOT convinced of the propriety of his actions towards peace, then, we have a problem. Bong Montesa, a member of the technical working group in the peace panel, says that a timeline for the implementation of the peace deal between the MILF and the Philippine government has been crafted. It reveals that the bulk of the deal will be realized beyond 2010, ergo, the onus of implementation will be transfered from Gloria to the new president (if elections will be held anyway). What if the new president, under tremendous pressure to win, change his or her mind and opt for the government to rescind the previous agreement. That had happened before and the possibility is strong that i’ll happen to this deal.

This is treachery and it could lead to a very serious war.

If you notice the main issue opposing the GRP-MILF deal, you’ll notice one oft-repeating word: “dismemberment”. Most analysts, unfortunately including United Opposition Spokesman Atty. Adel Tamano (a born Muslim by the way), say they oppose the deal because it would cause the division of the country, which, they say, contradicts the Constitution.

I dare say, what dismemberment? What is to be dismembered when there’s no integration in the first place?

Beyond the legalities or the definition of a territory within the constitutional purview, did we, the Filipino People, really considered the Bangsamoro people as Filipinos? Are these people from Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Jolo, Zamboanga and all the rest of Moroland even considered themselves Filipino?

Did these people inhabiting Moroland act, live and breathe like Filipinos? Do we really integrate or assimilate their culture with our prevailing one?

When ask how do we describe our country, most of us would say “we’re the only Christian nation in Asia”, right? That statement alone shows you how isolated, how disjointed, how clear the distinction is in the minds of most Filipinos. Yes, it could be a factual statement, but it is not accurate. That statement already excluded 3 million born Muslims and millions more of reverted Muslims (or what we call “Balik-Islam”).

Face it–these people constituting the Bangsamoro People–have a different system of beliefs, have a different tradition, have a different culture that totally opposes or contradicts the prevailing culture. What most Filipinos consider as legal, most are contradictory to Bangsamoro beliefs. The Bangsamoro is different. The Bangsamoro is unique. The Bangsamoro is not Filipino.

People opposing this deal do so because they’re afraid they’ll lose their powers. More than property rights, these people got wealthy enslaving the Bangsamoro. For decades, they enjoyed the fruits of the land, exploiting the natural and human resources of Mindanao, for their own. And what happened to those whom they enslaved?

Extreme and widespread poverty leading to widespread dissent and a long-standing war that has threatened the lives and futures of the Bangsamoro people. In all provinces of this country, Mindanao is the most impoverished, especially Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Jolo and Zamboanga.

Those claiming “royal blood” oppose this deal because they’ll lose whatever “divine claims” they have over the Bangsamoro. I dare say, what right do they have to claim proprietary property claims to these Muslim lands when it is illegal to claim ownership of land under Islamic law in the first place? Besides, what “divine right” do they have when they have’nt done anything to uplift the lives of their fellow Bangsamoro in those lands which they claim to be theirs?

And those in the United Opposition who oppose this deal do so because, face it, Gloria can claim credence to this as the only president who successfully resolved the Bangsamoro Question. I oppose Gloria and want her out immediately, but, in this issue, I fully support her and the peace panel. The Opposition reject this deal because the deal is a landmark deal that Gloria can claim as her perpetual legacy to the peace issue.

The Opposition says government is entering into the deal with an insincere intention. They say government can’t deliver its promise. How do they know? Are these “oppositionists” now claiming to be psychics? I mean, how do they know that government can’t deliver? And besides, that’s the problem of the MILF right? If government can’t deliver its promises, then, government is liable to the MILF and the international community.

Opposition says they reject this deal because it would lead to charter change. I don’t believe that. MILF peace panel member Atty. Michael Mastura says that the deal only recognizes the right of the Bangsamoro to have their own state. And even if Gloria do want charter change, I don’t think she’ll succeed in it because people would definitely oppose any change other than resolving the Bangsamoro question.

We all need to give peace a chance. Those who want war, like North Cotabato Vice Governor Ed Pinol and the Lobregats of Zamboanga, let them be damned. Peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. is right–if the MILF imposes its rights under the deal in the future, the AFP does’nt have any right to intervene on their behalf. Let the MILF resolve these problems. It’s their territory anyway.

Let me say one thing–we need to consider this deal as a necessary small step towards the ultimate solution to the Bangsamoro question. For after this deal, there’s no more we can expect from this but a long debilitating war. And a war at this point, would affect everybody, Filipinos and Bangsamoros.

On Tuesday, members of the government peace panel and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will sign a historic deal. This deal will lead to the establishment of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE), an entity which would grant sovereign rights to the MILF on “ancestral domain”. The ancestral domain, in this case, covers parts of Zamboanga, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Sulu. The GRP peace panel agreed to give the Bangsamoro political, economic and even police powers to the MILF under this deal.

This early, some hailed this as a landmark deal which could probably end the Moro secessionist struggle in Mindanao. Others, like traditional Moro families and wealthy Christian landowners, have registered their protests. They see the landmark deal as property encroachments which could potentially lead to more violence at the onset.

As PinoyObserver wrote some entries ago, this is just a start of the Bangsamoro struggle because after this, I expect an escalation of violence between and among groups with various interests in Mindanao. Expect the Mindanaoans to wage war against each other, starting with an interacine conflict between Moros themselves. This is expected since Mindanao has been under the grip of traditional “royal families” and Christian land owners and caciques whose interests will definitely be affected and even end should this deal pushes through.

There will be a period of great instability and turmoil, but this should not hinder nor discourage Arroyo from signing this deal. For the costs of such turmoil rests in the shoulders of the MILF, not the government. The MILF will have a greater struggle ahead of it, owning to the firepower that these groups have ranged against it. The MILF should persevere and should not deter from the reason of its formation—the creation of an Independent Bangsamoro State.

In general, the deal will greatly benefit not only those under the BJE but also the entire nation. The potential of foreign investments from both China, the Middle East, India, the United States and Europe is there. Mindanao is underdeveloped. With a new government to be administered by the Bangsamoro themselves, anything is possible there.

Now, the Bangsamoro can build its own megacities, create jobs, create opportunities for everyone. The Bangsamoro can build investment sites. The territory to be given to them has enormous potential for development and growth. The area is rich in mineral and oil resources which, if developed, could potentially increase investment and further grow and modernize the Bangsamoro state.

However, this is just a small step. The growth and development of the BJE will take years before we finally enjoy its fruits.  For now, the Bangsamoro People will have to prepare themselves against those who don’t want progress. These groups have enslaved the Bangsamoro people for centuries. The enslavement have kept Mindanao underdeveloped and poor. For the Bangsamoro People to end it, it would need the Help of God to shackle those chains that have impoverished its people.