Philippine Groups Urge UN, OIC To Intervene In Mindanao Conflict

Citizens and peace advocates appeal to the United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to mediate and intervene in the Muslim Mindanao long-aged conflict as they rally in the Islamic City of Marawi.

MANIFESTO CALLING ON THE UNITED NATIONS (UN) AND THE ORGANIZATION OF ISLAMIC CONFERENCE (OIC) TO INTERVENE AND MEDIATE TO END THE WAR IN MINDANAO AND INTERCEDE FOR THE JUST RESOLUTION OF THE BANGSAMORO STRUGGLE FOR THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION.

When, at the dawn of the high-tech, ultra civilized 21st century, the Bangsamoro finds itself still bereft of its inherent rights and freedoms as a distinct sovereign nation, stolen as they were, under cover of "civilizing" democracy by successive colonizers;

When, after many decades of so-called peace negotiations, the Bangsamoro people wakes up to the harsh truth of the abominable situation of sustained betrayal, manipulation, lying, cheating, and killing by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines;

When, today, the Bangsamoro is subjected to another cruel war by a government that abdicated democratic government, declaring the Bangsamoro as its subjects for protection yet waging atrocious war against it, this time, right after the exposure of its base insincerity in consummating the previously agreed upon and approved Memorandum of Agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD), executed by and between the government of the republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF);

When, today, the Bangsamoro cannot find any redeeming justification for the non-existence of genocidal intent in the acts of the government of the republic of the Philippines in 1) taking side with the notorious Ilonggo land grabbers association (Ilaga) and other land usurpers, all of whom have amassed wealth in Bangsamoro territories without consent nor participation of the Bangsamoro, and some of whom also wrested control of local governance and would own the whole of Bangsamoro homeland by systematically dispossessing the Bangsamoro, and 2) unleashing disproportionately massive military forces with heavy land and air artillery for pursuing two commanders of the MILF yet indiscriminately bombing and destroying communities and villages and deliberately sowing fear and terror to the populace resulting to the displacement of thousands and thousands of innocent civilians;

When, today, the acts of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines include the incomparably contemptible authorization and distribution of 13,000 arms to civilians, many recipients of whom are Ilaga adherents who desire above all to drive out the Moro people from their territories thereby exposing all pretensions to equal protection of its peoples by the GRP, as well as the scheme to instigate a genocidal civil war reminiscent of the dictator Marcos policy, to broad daylight;

When, today, despite the valiant resistance of Bangsamoro freedom fighters against an overwhelming war machinery and military operations of a colonial government and despite the perseverance of the great majority of the Bangsamoro to sustain and advance the struggle, the Bangsamoro civil society believes that the only remaining hope for immediate and just resolution of the conflict is in the existence of international organizations and entities sworn to maintain world peace and security by safeguarding human rights and peoples' rights and the promotion of conflict resolution through principled, just and peaceful means;

And when, today, we, the Bangsamoro multi-sectoral members of the civil populace of Lanao resolve to adhere to the hope and trust that these humanitarian organizations, appraised of a gross crime against humanity in our region of the world will come to the aid of the victims of this unjust war, the peace-loving Bangsamoro and Filipino civil populace, alike;

With solemn prayers that this appeal finds its niche in the hearts and minds of all peace-loving citizens and organizations of the humane world, we therefore call on the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Conference to jointly intervene in this Mindanao conflict, to mediate for the cessation of the war and to institute the just resolution of the grievous injustices to the Bangsamoro and their right to self-determination;

We call on the United Nations to investigate and determine the true cause and extent of the war and if the principles and purposes for which the UN exists still operates, to disregard the GRP assertion of the war as an internal affair or that the current imposition of war on the Bangsamoro is legitimate and instead afford protection of all peace-loving Bangsamoro and Filipino civil populace from the scourge of unjust war and especially to uphold and protect the Bangsamoro right to self-determination as guaranteed under UN declaration and international laws.

Issued this 2nd day of October, 2008 during the multi-sectoral Bangsamoro civil populace rally for peace at the Plaza Cabili, Islamic City of Marawi.

RP Muslims Still Searching For Homeland

MANILA, Philippines (AFP / September 16, 2008) - It is mid-morning and the muezzin's call at Manila's Blue Mosque in suburban Maharlika echoes across the run-down tenement blocks as men slowly walk towards its sky blue onion-shaped dome.

Across the road, goats graze and women gather under trees, their heads covered by white or black scarves.

A placard taped to the mosque wall reads: "Peace for MindaNOW."

The latest attempt to bring peace to the southern island of Mindanao and give the minority Muslims a homeland has been officially scrapped after 11 years of negotiations between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Both sides have struggled for a settlement through peace negotiations punctuated by bouts of bloodshed which had displaced more than a million people and left more than 120,000 dead over the past 40 years.

Once the majority ethnic group in Mindanao, Muslims have been marginalized and are now a minority in their own land following massive Christian migration from the northern and central Philippines from the early 1900s.

Many of the displaced have drifted to Manila over the years, settling in small Muslim communities scattered around the city such as that at Maharlika.

Known locally as "Little Mindanao," it is home to an estimated 50,000 Muslims. Some were born here, others were children when their parents fled the fighting in Mindanao and some are recent arrivals.

"Without our own homeland we are nothing as a people," said Kamim Macmod, 38, who was two years old when his family fled Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao.

Casting his eyes around the faithful entering the mosque, he says: "Despite our clan differences we (Muslims) all share the same dream -- to live in peace and on our own land."

Although the latest attempt for a settlement was endorsed by negotiators from both sides it drew widespread condemnation from Mindanao's Christians and politicians who saw it as unconstitutional and a sell-out of Philippine sovereignty.

The agreement has been dumped by the government and factions of the MILF have begun fighting, sending more than 500,000 civilians into refugee camps.

Nur-ashree Dawani, 37, married with three children is out of work but he gets by selling cigarettes and sweets on the streets for a relative.

"Muslims in this country are a bit like the Palestinians in Israel, lost in their own homeland," he said.

"The fight for a homeland has been going on for decades now and I would expect it will go on for decades more," he said.

Historically Muslims dominated the islands of the Sulu archipelago, western and central Mindanao and the island of Palawan well before the Spanish colonizers arrived in the mid-1500s.

Despite 350 years of Spanish occupation the Muslims were left alone where the local sultanates dominated Southeast Asia.

After occupying the Philippine islands following its war with Spain in 1898, the US fought a series of brutal wars with the Muslims to bring them into what was then the Philippine Commonwealth.

For most of the 20th century large scale emigration was encouraged, first by the US and the Filipinos themselves, urging Christians to populate Mindanao.

In less than 60 years the Muslims were pushed into being a minority people in what was once their own homeland, and now no one knows how many Muslims have drifted to Manila in the past four decades.

On one recent morning heavily armed police and SWAT teams keep a discreet distance from the mosque.

Maharlika was set up during the presidency of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the early 1970s to provide a refuge for the wave of refugees who fled Muslim Mindanao when students began agitating for a homeland.

After 40 years of false promises exhaustion and frustration are eroding the patience of many Muslims in the Philippines.

"Our quest for a homeland is like a voice from the wilderness. It has haunted the American colonizers and successive Philippine governments since our independence in 1946," said Norhaya Macusang, a 26-year-old engineer and mother of one.

"Many Muslims here have not only escaped the fighting in Mindanao, they have also escaped the poverty it has created," she said.

“But that is not to say everything is fine here in Manila. We suffer from widespread discrimination because we are Muslims. We have lost our dignity and self respect as a people,” she said.

"Yes, I could pack up and leave. But where does that leave my people?" she asked.

“The only way this situation will be sorted out is when we get our land back and Muslims are in control of their own destiny,” she said.

"It's not a question of not being able to live side by side with Christians, we do," she said. "It's a question of political will on both sides."

Christians Being Agitated To Fight Muslim Ancestral Domain Deal In Mindanao

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 4, 2008) – Christian residents in southern Philippine city of Zamboanga are being agitated to protest the inclusion of several Muslim enclaves here in a proposed Islamic homeland in Mindanao.

Local Catholic priests in their homily Sunday also urged residents to join a protest rally on Monday. In their homily, the priests said two villages largely populated by Christians would be included in the proposed Muslim homeland demanded by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which is negotiating peace with Manila.

Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat also criticized Manila for including several Muslim villages here to be part of the MILF ancestral domain, including two villages where the century-old City Hall and the Fort Pilar, an open-air Catholic shrine are situated.

Lobregat, who was invited Saturday night at a Lion’s Club convention here, spoke lengthily about his opposition to the ancestral domain and the inclusion of Christian villages in the proposed Muslim homeland. He said residents had twice rejected plebiscites in the past to include the city in the Muslim autonomous region.

Government and rebel peace negotiators have reached a deal on the ancestral domain and would sign the agreement on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur which is brokering the seven-year old talks aimed at ending more than four decades of Muslim secessionist wars in Mindanao.

President Gloria Arroyo's peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon said there is need to amend the Constitution to allow referendum on areas under the ancestral domain that would make up the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity.

Esperon also denied Lobregat’s claim and said only Sacol Island, about 18 nautical miles, is included in the ancestral domain. “Only Sacol is included in the ancestral domain and islanders would be given a chance whether to be part of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity or not,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said: “Included in the proposed plebiscite are the villages in Sacol Island and none in mainland Zamboanga City. We should hear the voice of the people of Sacol, which is populated by Muslims. Any plebiscite will be pursuant only to an enabling law which will be enacted by Congress.”

Sacol is one of 25 island communities largely populated by poor Muslims, mostly fishermen and seaweed farmers. Many Muslim enclaves in Zamboanga have little or no development projects at all and villagers rely mostly on foreign aid for its water and electricity sources, despite the city’s more than P2 billion savings in banks.

US government agencies such as the USAID, AMORE and GEM and the US military have been very active in providing Muslim villages in Zamboanga City with various infrastructure projects, medical missions and solar-power technology that provides electricity to homes, among others.

Cell phone text messages were also spreading about the inclusion of Zamboanga City in the Muslim ancestral domain. One text message urged citizens to resist the ancestral domain and to join Monday’s protest rally.

Many commercial stores here, mostly owned by influential Chinese businessmen and supporters of Lobregat, said they will all close at 11 a.m. on Monday to protest the inclusion of the villages to the ancestral domain. Even some journalists, who are supposed to stay neutral, have joined calls to resist the ancestral domain.

Lobregat said many Muslim village leaders are also opposed to the inclusion of their communities to the Bangsamoro homeland. However, most of these leaders are also the mayor’s allies and supporters.

But many Muslims here said they wanted to be part of the Bangsamoro homeland and are supporting the MILF peace talks. Many Muslim residents in Zamboanga City said they are discriminated by Christians. Others claimed many department stores owned by Chinese businessmen here do not hire Muslims, but Christians.

Muslim groups and peace advocates in Zamboanga City are supporting the peace talks and favored the ancestral domain. Ancestral domain is the single most important and, arguably, the thorniest issue before government and rebel peace negotiators can reach a political settlement.
Zamboanga was the former capital of the Moro province and part of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.

Aside from Zamboanga City, the ancestral domain included the whole of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which is comprise of Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Basilan, Lanao, and Maguindanao provinces and Marawi City, and also some areas in Zamboanga Peninsula, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani provinces in Mindanao where there are large communities of Muslims and indigenous tribes. And Palawan Island near Mindanao.

The Bangsamoro Juridical Entity will also have sufficient control over economic resources and a structure of governance in all its territories that will allow Muslims to govern themselves in ways that are consonant with their culture and with minimal interference from Manila.

Lawrence Cruz, the mayor of Iligan City in Lanao province, said he will also hold a protest rally on Monday. Deputy Governor Emmanuel Pinol, of North Cotabato, said he will oppose any attempt to include his province to the Muslim homeland.

Pinol has asked the Supreme Court to stop the government and rebel peace negotiators from signing the agreement on the ancestral domain. Lobregat and Cruz said they would also petition the High Court to stop the signing.

The MILF on Sunday appealed to Christians and Muslims in Mindanao to promote trust, understanding and cooperation and not hatred and mistrust. The rebel group previously said it will not sign any peace deal with the Arroyo government unless its demand for self-determination is granted. Last year, peace talks were also stalled after government negotiators reneged on the ancestral domain deal.

Arroyo opened peace talks with the MILF in 2001 after deposing President Joseph Estrada in a bloodless revolution. But despite the peace talks, sporadic fighting between rebels and soldiers still continue in Mindanao with both sides accusing each other of violating a fragile truce accord.

Peace negotiators last month also signed an agreement in Kuala Lumpur that will empower the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity to build, develop and maintain its own institutions, inclusive of civil service, electoral, financial and banking, education, legislation, legal, economic, police and internal security force, judicial system and correctional institutions necessary for developing a progressive Muslim society. (Mindanao Examiner)

Muslim Groups Release Resolution, Support Bangsamoro Homeland Deal

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