Impending war of independence in Mindanao

Malacanang publicly acknowledged their plan on how to attain peace in Mindanao---allowed the creation of a sub-state, according to former peace adviser and now Supreme Court justice Marvin Leonen. There is nothing wrong with granting the Bangsamoros their own territory. Fact is, based on numerous studies, a creation of a sub-state, or a Bangsamoro Islamic State, is really the ultimate political solution to the centuries' old problem in Mindanao.

Unknown probably to Leonen and to the rest of the officials in Malacanan, the very solution they prescribed in Central Mindanao or territories with Bangsamoro communities there, will precipitate another and more serious problem.

Muslim scholars say that if the Government of the Republic of the Philippines intends to grant sub-state status to the Bangsamoros, the very concept should also apply to territories beyond the scope of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Meaning, the GRP should also recognize statism as a solution to the insurgency being waged by the Moros in the islands of Jolo, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, territories with Tausugs as the dominant ethnic group.

The independence war in Mindanao is basically waged in two main fronts: Central Mindanao and the islands of Jolo, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi. Historically, these territories fall under three (3) sultanates: the Sultanate of Maguindanao, the Sultanate of Buayan and the Sultanate of Sulu.

In the minds of the Muslims in Mindanao, the GRP-MILF agreement encompasses only two (2) sultanates: the Sultanate of Maguindanao and of Buayan. Since the GRP failed to enter into an agreement with the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu, who is now highly acknowledged not just in Mindanao but in other parts of the Muslim world, as a legitimate Hashemite Kingdom, it follows that, even with a peace agreement with the MILF, peace will still be a long stretched affair in that part of the archiepelago.

Let me make it perfectly simple---even with a peace agreement, war will still break out in other parts of Mindanao because, for Tausugs and Yakans and those who recognize the Sultanate of Sulu as a political legitime, there is still one more Sultanate left to be freed from the clutches of colonial Manila.

Worse, the very solution to this is the granting of a status of sub-state even in Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan--at the very least, because the Sultanate of Sulu claims Palawan as a part of the Kingdom and Sabah, which is now being administered by another state, the Malaysian government.

There is a complication in this matter---if the Government of the Republic of the Philippines recognizes the Sultanate as a "sub-state", this will give political legitimacy to the claims of the remaining heirs of the Sultanate to Sabah.

Giving legitimacy to the Sultanate means giving legitimacy to the Sabah claim. As a "sub-state", the Sultanate of Sulu will now be in a better position to amplify its claims over Sabah, a move which will affect Philippine-Malaysian relations.

The Philippine government therefore is really in a bind. If the Sultanate of Sulu claims Sabah, and Malaysia resists, under the very concept for which Leonen, the so-called "peace architect" , created,  the Philippine government has to give aid to the Sultanate in pursuit of its claim.

What is now happening in Mindanao is the slow killing of the concept of Bangsamoro and the carving of the Bangsamoro territory into numerous pieces. The GRP-MILF peace agreement aims to break the war, but, in actuality, will even worsen the situation in Mindanao.

If the GRP includes the Sulu-Tawi-Tawi-Basilan area as part of the Bangsamoro sub-state, there will be stiff resistence coming from those who do not recognize the legitimacy of such a political solution.

There will be an interacine war between and among Muslims in Mindanao. There will be two fronts: the MILF, together with the GRP security forces, and the military forces of the Sultanate of Sulu together with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

This is what I already wrote several months ago--that the GRP-MILF peace agreement will only solve one part of the problem and not the entire thing. Shortly after the conclusion of the Bangsamoro's struggle against colonial Manila, there will be another phase of the war, this time, between Bangsamoros and Muslims who claim to be under the legitimate Hashemite kingdom based in Sulu.

This will be bloody as it will attract numerous Islamic forces within the region itself. The next Islamic struggle will be regional and will be a magnet for a revival of the Islamic concept of pan-regionalism.

In  this phase, Islamic freedom fighters will think of their compatriots in the MILF as government stooges, altogether eliminating whatever moral standing they presently have.There will be a civil war among Bangsamoros, something which will hinder the development and growth of the Bangsamoro Islamic sub-state.

What this GRP-MILF peace agreement wants to achieve in one part, will spark another problem in the other, thanks to the ill-appreciation of history by several "learned men" of the law within the Palace who still thinks of state management as something petty.

Philippine president Benigno S. Aquino III has a very serious problem confronting him.

The Bangsamoro Question and its 2-fold struggle

I've been to Mindanao several times already and though I am not born there, I know what is happening there. Mindanao is not just rich in natural resources--it is also being enriched by the people who live there. 


Many of my friends live in Mindanao. They are both Christians and Muslims. For my Muslim friends, some of them consider themselves as Bangsamoros. Before, the term is exclusive for those who only believe in the Islamic faith and who reside in Mindanao. Now, even Christians consider themselves as Bangsamoros.


Seriously, there is nothing wrong in Mindanao. The entire region is blessed with so much riches, especially natural resources, that, given the chance for self-rule, Mindanao may even eclipse Metro Manila and Cebu as the most progressive and the richest place in the Philippine archipelago. I heard so many foreign investors willing to invest in the place. And I personally know that Bangsamoros will definitely do good not just in establishing strong trade relations with other countries, but also will develop their place as a modern, cosmopolitan place in no time.


I visit General Santos every month and I love the place. There is peace and tranquility there. Christians and Muslims live peacefully there. There is no rancor between the two religious groups simply because every single thing has been provided for every one, regardless of religion, for self-development. You don't see shanties there, a stark difference from the ones in Davao del Sur, Maguindanao and Lanao. Every single resident of GenSan is contented by their lives because the city itself gives equal opportunity to anyone willing to invest her or his time for self-improvement and for commerce.


I wrote here several entries ago, that, the only problem in Mindanao is peace and security. Muslims claim a part of it for themselves which is quite understandable if we are to base it in History. However, though their claims have basis in history, the very question as to who really own Mindanao is still subject of extreme debate.


Muslims have dominated the Western and Eastern hemispheres of Mindanao while the North and the South are predominantly Christian. Now, the question is-is it possible for these territories being claimed to be ceded to their original owners? Yes, it is under a legislative action. Government must change the provisions of the Constitution and refigure its territorial claims to be able to accommodate such a solution.


And who, may I ask, are the original owners of these lands? It would have to be the traditional royal families in Mindanao, most of them, warlords. So, in the event of a reconfiguration, traditional royal families will have to battle it out with both the MILF and the MNLF for political power.


The Bangsamoro question will not be resolved through a peace agreement because even if the government accedes with the demands for self-rule, the entire region will still be beset by violence. A civil war between and among different interest groups will shortly happen once government or the MILF succeeds in its independence claim.


For example, this early, the so-called Sultan of Sulu is making claims of the Jolo Group, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi---three areas within the territories being claimed by the MILF as bangsamoro territorial homeland. The possibility of a clash is very likely there, since the Sultan will not give in to the rebels once an MILF Bangsamoro homeland is recognized.


Really, the Bangsamoro struggle is two-fold: resistence against imperial Manila and once it is achieved, resistance against so-called traditional royal families who will surely claim ownership of several lands under the Bangsamoro homeland territory. 


What Mindanao needs is a hegemon---a strong and powerful force able and capable of unifying these groups under one proposition---development. When every single group in Mindanao agrees to keep it safe and simple in the name of development, and not religion, then, every thing will take care of itself, naturally, like what happened in Malaysia. 

Ermita admitted no actual rebellion in Maguindanao prior to Martial Law

So, now, Ka Dante, Executive secretary Eduardo Ermita admitted that Mrs. Arroyo proclaimed martial law in Maguindanao even without the existence of actual rebellion. That's comforting. At least after almost a week, someone inside the Iron curtains had the gall to admit that they fumbled and committed a great fax pas. Or maybe, just maybe, his conscience was pricked. Or maybe his wife already told him of a brewing rebellion that will break out anytime now and she wants him to pack his bags and leave for Batangas.

I have one message to Ermita and his rambunctuous bunch of idiots there picking their noses while eating pork and some even sipping wine while I write this---it is tooo damn late for them to repent and ask for mercy.

They initiated a very serious thing that surely will develop into more complications, particularly in Mindanao. One complication---it just proved that ARMM is a damning failure.

It just negated the very idea of ARMM as a fitting and comfortable compromise between Imperial Manila and those who aspire for a truly autonomous Bangsamoro land.

It lay bare the nefarious plan of government to give Bangsamoros temporary respite for war, cooing them to acquiesce, while slowly stabbing them in the back with their plan to elect Muslim puppets in the ARMM.

The Ampatuan family is one such puppet. And with an Adiong there assuming the ARMM governorship post, the puppet show continues. ARMM was made a tool by the Philippine government to perpetuate the continued enslavement of the Bangsamoro.

The Bangsamoros will never be free if they allow themselves to be fooled once more by offers of an improved version of ARMM.

ARMM is a puppet show. ARMM is an elaborate sing-and-dance routine aimed at lulling the true Bangsamoros to sleep; an entertaining charade meant to soften the Bangsamoro's desire for true freedom!

The discovery of huge caches of arms and ammos only show you, Bangsamoro, that this government intends to perpetuate civil war among your ranks, to break your hold over your lands, to break your ties, and dominate you by force!

Autonomy is not the answer to the Bangsamoro Problem. Fact is, autonomy worsens the wounds of the Bangsamoro, inflicted by centuries of enslavement by those who salivate in their riches and wealth.

Autonomy is the anesthesia that your slave masters slowly inoculated into the very heart of Bangsamoro land to make you forget the true path towards freedom!

Be free, fellow Bangsamoros! You have only your chains to break!

Federalism is also not the answer. Federalism will only perpetuate the rule of the traditional Muslim politicians, whose desire is to enslave their fellow Muslims in their anti-Islamic philosophy of moderation. Moderation allows enslavement not just of the body but of the mind, and eventually, the Spirit.

Freedom means breaking the hold of these self-proclaimed Muslim royalties and their armies and obliterate them from the face of the earth! There is no other Monarch nor royal One, than Allah SWT!

Break the chains that bind you from the Sinsuats, the Ampatuans, the Adiongs, the Mangundadatus, the Datumanongs, the Dilangalens, the Tans and all others who claim ascendancy due to their so-called "blue blood". Their veins are not colored blue. Their blood is as red as ours!

These puppets foster pseudo-Islam in their territories, enriching themselves with your wealth and allowing you to wallow in extreme poverty while they fatten their bank accounts and their families with their puppet fees.

These families are scourges, they are the scurvies that worsen the wounds of slavery. They are collaborators. They want you to drop your arms and abandon the True Banner of Islam. And why do they want that?

These collaborators and those who want to enslave you want you to forget those vast oil fields just lying underneath the vast Sulu sea. They want you to forever struggle and fight this self-perpetuating cycle of war for you to abandon your rich lands, for you to forget that they're exploiting your ore-rich mountains and rivers full of gold. They want war in your land so that they can exploit your women and take them to foreign lands as prostitutes and slaves. They want your men to forever be slaves to the lands which your ancestors gave as inheritance.

The only way out of this misery is struggle towards the complete liberation of these Bangsamoro lands from tyrannical hold. Revive the spirit of your ancestors which lie dormant in each of your breasts. Ask Allah SWT for mercy and Allah will give you freedom!

Enough of accommodation and of trying to be Filipinos. You are not Filipinos. You are Bangsamoros! Be proud of your heritage. Be proud of your lineage. Be proud of your History. Be extremely proud of your future!

Peace! Peace without the sacrifices of the Brave and the Pious is nothing. Peace is the reward of the Brave, the crown of the True Patriot and the trophy of the conqueror.

Be worthy of it.

Balabac Massacre---Gloria's Version of Jabidah

A visually enraged Nur Misuari, chairman emeritus of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) blasted the military for the alleged “massacre” of seven MNLF members during a reported encounter in Balabac Island a few days ago in Palawan.

Misuari, who formed the MNLF in 1972 after the alleged Jabidah massacre perpetuated by military forces in Corregidor Island, said that the deaths of these seven MNLF members, including their leader and his two sons, are suspicious and reminds one of the infamous Jabidah massacre during the Marcos regime.

For those lived during those tumultuous times, Jabidah was the codename of a military project by Marcos. Several Muslims were tapped and trained in the island of Corregidor for the sole mission of invading Borneo and claim the island as Philippine territory. When the plan was discovered, Marcos immediately ordered the massacre of the Muslim volunteers by the military.

Shortly after the Jabidah massacre, Misuari, who was a professor of the University of the Philippines in Diliman at that time, formed the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), the precursor of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). After a bloody war which left 150,000 dead, the MNLF and the government went to the peace table. Former First Lady Imelda Marcos used her links with Libya to talk peace with the MNLF but it was only after a few years, in the 1990s, that the MNLF agreed to lay down their arms and enter into an agreement with government.

Misuari said he could not believe those claims by the military that those killed in Balabac resisted arrest. The AFP said the firefight started when army troops tried to serve a warrant of arrest against one of the MNLF members, allegedly for extortion. That’s unbelievable, says Misuari, since those who were living in Balabac Island are all Tausugs and relatives, so they can’t be an extortionist among them. Besides, says Misuari, they have been there since several decades ago.

Misuari vows to meet Defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro to discuss this, but the former Bangsamoro leader said, ” The MNLF will never forget this. For every blood spilt, there would be accountability,” says Misuari who once led the Bangsamoro revolutionaries in a bloody war that left 150,000 killed in Mindanao.

On the Bangsamoro Question

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.