The mere fact that I graduated from UP
makes me responsible and indebted to the country that gave me education and
that sent me to where I am today. And as an OFW who left my family in my home
country, I am scared for the safety of those I left behind in case the country
decides to go moro-moro.
I won’t pretend that I know even a
fraction of what this war is all about so just like my i-don’t-like-but-i-have-to
relationship with the subject of Math, I will try to share what information I find
out through numbers so that I can contribute in the little way that I can to
open the eyes of my fellow men about this “idealism bomb” waiting to explode
and send the whole country to war. I will leave the complicated analysis to the
experts and just start with the basic information and statistics that could
ignite the will for Filipinos to search for truth and to act to achieve the
right government and real progress for the Philippines.
Let us first start with the Terms:
Bangsamoro
- The Moro people, or Bangsamoro, are a population of ethnically indigenous
Muslims in the Philippines, forming the largest non-Catholic group in the
country, and comprising about 5% of the total Philippine population.
(for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moro_people)
Philippine
Politics - The Philippines has a democratic government in the form of a
constitutional republic with a presidential system. It is governed as a unitary state with the
exception of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which is largely free
from the national government. There have been attempts to change the government
to a federal, unicameral, or parliamentary government since the Ramos
administration.
The bicameral Congress is composed of
the Senate, serving as the upper house, with members elected to a six-year
term, and the House of Representatives, serving as the lower house, with
members elected to a three-year term. The senators are elected at large while
the representatives are elected from both legislative districts and through
sectoral representation. The judicial power is vested in the Supreme Court,
composed of a Chief Justice as its presiding officer and fourteen associate
justices, all of whom are appointed by the President from nominations submitted
by the Judicial and Bar Council.
Philippine
President - The President functions as both head of state and head of
government and is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president is
elected by popular vote for a single six-year term, during which he or she
appoints and presides over the cabinet.
Military - The Armed Forces of the
Philippines is the military force of the Philippines that is responsible for
national security and is composed of three branches: the Philippine Air Force,
the Philippine Army, and the Philippine Navy (includes the Marine Corps). Currently,
The Armed Forces of the Philippines' manpower is a voluntary force meaning it
acquires its personnel from volunteers through recruitment however, according
to the Section 4, Article II of the Constitution of the Philippines,
conscription may be possible. Civilian security is handled by the Philippine
National Police under the Department of the Interior and Local Government
(DILG).
Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao – the largest separatist organization, the Moro
National Liberation Front, is now engaging the government politically. Other
more militant groups like the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the communist New
People's Army, and the Abu Sayyaf which have been reported of kidnappings of
foreigners, where victims are held for ransom, particularly in the southern
island of Mindanao, but their presence has decreased in recent years due to
successful security provided by the Philippine government.
(for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines#Military)
Bangsamoro
Transition Commission - is a
commission created on December 17, 2013 by the virtue of Executive Order 120
signed by President Benigno Aquino III. The commission is tasked to come up
with a draft on the Bangsamoro Basic Law,
which would serve as the basis of a new Bangsamoro political entity, in
accordance to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro. The Bangsamoro
Transition Commission shall be disestablished upon the enactment of a
Bangsamoro Basic Law.
(for more info:
http://www.rappler.com/nation/special-coverage/peacetalks/76400-bangsamoro-basic-law-primer#cxrecs_s;
Ceasefire
- a state of peace agreed to between opponents so they can discuss peace terms.
And now, we go to the numbers…
7
Centuries – since Muslim missionaries landed on the shores of Tawi-Tawi in the
southern Philippines.
1457
- the introduction of Islam led to the creation of Sultanates.
This included the sultanates of Buayan, Maguindanao and Sulu,
which is considered the oldest Muslim government in the country until its
annexation by the United States in 1898.
494
years since the conflict with Moros since the Spanish Era.
The Moros had a history of resistance
against Spanish, American, and Japanese rule for over 400 years. The violent
armed struggle against the Japanese, Filipinos, Spanish, and Americans is
considered by current Moro Muslim leaders as part of the four centuries long
"national liberation movement" of the Bangsamoro (Moro Nation). The
400 year long resistance against the Japanese, Americans, and Spanish by the
Moro Muslims persisted and morphed into their current war for independence
against the Philippine state.
1960s
and 1980s - Islamic Insurgency in the Philippines.
8
Presidents since the Islamic Insurgency in the Philippines: Carlos P.
Garcia, Diosdado Macapagal, Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino, Fidel V. Ramos,
Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Benigno Aquino III.
According to the late Senator Ninoy
Aquino, father of the incumbent president Pnoy Aquino, he tallied the cost of
the Mindanao wars between 1974 to 1981,
alone:
From 10,000 to 11,000
government soldiers killed
Over 100,000 Filipino Muslims
killed
Over 1.2 million displaced
and homeless
Sulu,
Mindanao, Palawan, and Sabah - the territory claimed as Bangsamoro Land.
194,511.13
Square Kilometers total Land Area claimed as Bangsamoro Land by the MILF.
120,880.13
km2 of the 300,000 km2 total land area of the Philippines are being claimed
by the MILF, that is 40.29% of the total
land area of the Philippines.
55
Peace Agreements passed by the Philippines to the United Nations, majority
of which are for Mindanao and the MILF.
The succeeding information are from:
5
Muslim separatist groups: Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the Moro
National Liberation Front (MNLF), the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom
Movement/Fighters (BIFM/F), and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). The fifth is Jemaah
Islamiyah, a regional organization with ties to al-Qaeda, its objective is to
establish an Islamic state across the arc of Southeast Asia.
120,000
lives claimed from the time Nur Misuari established the MILF in 1971.
The following table is just an estimate
of the no. of deaths, hostages and displaced people in the Mindanao conflict
based on what were published and broadcasted to the public.
YEAR
|
DEATHS
|
HOSTAGES
|
KILLED
HOSTAGES
|
DISPLACED
|
||
CIVILIAN
|
MILF, MNLF, ABU SAYYAF, BIFF
|
AFP, PNP, GOVT OFFICIALS, JOURNALISTS, US ARMY
|
||||
2013
|
253
|
311
|
99
|
100
|
100,000
|
|
2012
|
11
|
93
|
33
|
45,000
|
||
2011
|
40
|
61
|
20,000
|
|||
2010
|
33
|
33
|
13
|
5,000
|
||
2009
|
50
|
70
|
100
|
3
|
||
2008
|
200
|
209
|
610,000
|
|||
2007
|
125 (including
civilians)
|
|||||
2006
|
300 (including soldiers &
rebels)
|
20,000
|
||||
2005
|
350 (including soldiers &
rebels)
|
|||||
2004
|
135 (including soldiers &
rebels)
|
|||||
2003
|
300 (mostly civilians)
|
40,000
|
||||
2002
|
800 (including soldiers &
rebels)
|
|||||
2001
|
1,000 (mostly rebels)
|
|||||
2000
|
600 (including soldiers &
rebels)
|
471
|
222
|
58
|
||
1999
|
100 (including soldiers &
rebels)
|
|||||
1998
|
||||||
1997
|
150 (including
civilians)
|
|||||
1996
|
100 (including soldiers &
rebels)
|
|||||
1995
|
100 (including soldiers &
rebels)
|
|||||
1994
|
100 (including soldiers &
rebels)
|
|||||
$1,184,400,000.00
approximately, since 2002 was allocated by the Government and the United States
for Supply of Arms to the Philippines.
I will never be a fan of war because I am
a peace-loving person first and foremost, and I value life very much. This is
why I am deeply concerned about what is happening in Mindanao. In some of the
comments in the news, people say that the President and other people who judge
our Muslim Brothers in Mindanao, should go there and see what the REAL situation
is to understand what they are fighting for. As for me, we are all human
beings, one homeless beggar from Mindanao is not any different from a beggar in
Manila. One Muslim leader is not any different from a Catholic Leader if both
aim for the progress of their people and not their demise.
No matter how many ethnicities,
religions, interracial relationships, foreign histories, that blanket our
culture, we are one nation, in one geographically linked country which should follow
one Government. This is why if the Government will continue in passing the
Bangsamoro Basic Law, they might as well hand-over the whole Philippines in a
silver platter to the Bangsamoro who has a track record for violence and
rebellion and for trying to separate themselves from the Philippines and from
the Filipinos or then-called indios.
It is very disturbing to think that this
conflict with the Moros has lasted
this long. So much blood has been shed, many lives were sacrificed and peace
was challenged so many times, why? It is because of Corruption of Power. In order
to restore peace and order, we must eradicate corruption and all Filipinos will
profit from what the Philippines, as a nation, can offer.
We, as one nation, should set aside our
differences and try to work together. It may seem as a tall order but with our
continuous prayers, hunger for information, willingness to act and contribute,
wisdom in choosing our leaders and search for truth and peace, WE CAN DO IT.
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