OPINION: "The Untold Story" By Amirah Ali Lidasan

WHEN I RECEIVED text messages from Jolo about the news that Ustadz Habier Malik of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) had “held hostage” a government peace executive and Major General Benjamin Dolorfino of the Marines, I felt afraid for the people of Sulu.For weeks now, I have been a constant visitor of Sulu.

I have visited members and supporters of the Suara Bangsamoro party-list organization and told them what they have been waiting for years to hear — that despite our loss in the 2004 elections, Suara Bangsamoro will again run in this year’s elections.

In my visits, I observed that while President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Armed Forces chief General Hermogenes Esperon had been receiving congratulations from US President George Bush for the death of Abu Sayyaf leaders Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman, the people of Sulu were indifferent about the issue.

I got the same reactions from the people of Basilan.But when on Jan. 18, the Marines in Jolo reported that they had killed nine Abu Sayyaf men in an encounter in Timpuuk, Patikul town, many Joloanos were angered by the report.

According to the families of those who were slain, they were not Abu Sayyaf but card-bearing members and a commander of the Moro National Liberation Front who were visiting their families in a village very near the Bonbon village, the main camp of the Marines Landing Team 9 in Sulu.

In our interviews with the family, we learned that a 12-year old-kid was shot. Rodimar Julali was merely accompanying his father in a Tamaraw jeepney going to the city to report an incident about the killing of their comrades in Timpuuk. A 90-year-old man, Sarail Jaynatul, was also among the casualties.

This sparked anger from the Tausugs, and even merited an investigation from a joint monitoring group of the GRP (government of the Republic of the Philippines) and MNLF for a week. While investigations were going on and protest from organizations reached the military and the media, the Philippine Marines refused to admit their mistakes and continued to refer to those killed as Abu Sayyaf members.

On Feb. 1, both the GRP and the MNLF presented their reports of what really happened in Patikul on Jan. 18. The next day, the report was also submitted to Ustadz Habier Malik, chairman of the MNLF in Panamao, Sulu, where Camp Bitanag is situated.

When the news broke Friday that Ustadz Malik was holding the GRP team hostage, I was afraid that war will erupt in Jolo and I feared for the lives of my fellow Moro people. They are often misunderstood and often their actions are being capitalized on for war.

As MNLF secretary-general Ustadz Murshid Ibrahim puts it: “Taking hostage of anyone is violative of Islam. It is against MNLF doctrines and principles as a revolutionary organization. Using the word hostage is too harsh and unfair. Ustadz Kahber Malik is a man of peace. He only requested GRP representatives to prolong their stay in Beta’nag for inquiries in view of so many confusing situations going on.”

And the GRP really has a lot of explaining to do. How come they are now targeting MNLF members in their pursuit of Abu Sayyaf?

Why did they arrest six civilians on Jan. 20 in the municipality of Parang and accused them of being Abu Sayyaf?

Families have complained that Julpi Bastillan, ASli Bahari, Gapur Angkijh, Ben Lipae, Boy Lipae and a certain Karam were tortured to admit they were terrorists. After three days, they were released for lack of evidence.

Why was the tripartite meeting in Jeddah canceled? This would have been an opportunity for the MNLF to raise the human-rights violations issues perpetrated by the GRP against their members and commanders in Sulu since 2000.

And, of course, it would have been a venue to raise the issue of the illegal detention of Professor Nur Misuari, the chairman of the MNLF.

Just recently, US ambassador Kristie Kinney and a US diplomat, Karen Hughes, went to Jolo to congratulate the Marines there for a job well done. But did they listen to the Tausugs who had reported about the wounded Tausug woman from Indanan who suffered several wounds in the back because an American soldier “accidentally” fired at her home? Buh Bizma Johan, 45, was washing her clothes in their home in Tagbak, Indanan, when bombs from a nearby military camp in Bud Daju were fired at her place and shrapnel hit her back.

Her case was considered closed by the military and state officials because her family and relatives entered into an agreement with the US soldiers. Her relatives signed an agreement allowing the US soldiers to pay for her medication and moral damages, but there was also the tacit agreement that they should not file a complaint against the US soldiers.

In our talk with her, Buh Bizma even told us that he had been told by the military that she should be thankful that she was being paid a big amount. Had that happened with a Filipino soldier, she would have received a much lower amount, she was told.

Buh Bizma said she was not going to complain because she was more afraid of the repercussion if she went after the Americans.President Arroyo should review her “hands of steel” policy. For while she is boasting of her recent “victories,” the Moro people who are victims of her militarist strategy are not clapping their hands.

There is still no peace in Sulu and the rest of Mindanao. Her military solution undermines the peace negotiations and the Moro people’s resolve to seek justice for victims of human rights abuses. (Amirah Ali Lidasan is the national vice-chairperson of the Suara Bangsamoro partylist organization)