Bona fide text
Rebirth of a dormant war
The war renewed once again.
This was the worst scenario in Mindanao last month and until these days. This was the result of the Supreme Court's ruling suspending the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the Philippine government and the MILF, the largest rebel group in the southern part of the country.
FYI, the Memorandum of Agreement will create the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity and would have been a breakthrough in the decade-long peace talks. The Memorandum aimed to formally open negotiations between the government and the MILF to end the four-decade conflict in Mindanao that has claimed the lives of an estimated 120,000 people, displaced some two million and impoverished the resource-rich region.
However, the suspension of the agreement resulted into chaos between the two parties with the MILF calling for a jihad or a holy war against the government.
An MILF representative clearly said in an interview that what they want is to achieve freedom and independence for Mindanao's Muslims. He also mentioned that they would rather die fighting for an independent homeland than continue living under this oppressive system.
However, many innocent residents of Mindanao become sudden victims of the declared war. After August 4, the day when the SC suspended the peace agreement, members of MILF occupied farmlands in North Cotabato province and burned houses, displacing more than 150,000 people. Then two weeks later, MILF units in Lanao del Norte province engaged in attacks on civilians, hostage taking, bombings and arson, forcing another 50,000 people to flee their homes.
Properties were lost, worst, even the lives of our fellow Filipinos were sacrificed in battle for the sought after freedom of this MILF group. Many were homeless and evacuated in schools and in temporary secured areas and hoped for whatever help coming from the government or from the local NGOs. The situation is getting worst as each day passes by.
"All sides to this conflict should step back from the brink and demonstrate their commitment to avoid harming civilians. The MILF must control its forces, and the Philippine government should take responsibility for the security of all peoples in the Philippines, regardless of religion or ethnicity," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director.
In this present situation in Mindanao, many would think it is not that wise for the national government to talk peace with a terrorist organization hiding themselves in a jungle in Mindanao's remote Lanao del Norte armed with assault rifles. Moreover, a number of Filipinos believe that the prospect of achieving a peace agreement with the extremist group MILF is almost impossible.
If the government will continue its stand not to have peace talks with this rebel group, still many worst incidents may happen in the coming days. If worse comes to worst, Nebuchadnezzar's "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," will somehow rule as the solution to this problem.
We wanted to live in a place where there is peace and order at the same time having security of our lives and possessions. With this present happening in Mindanao, can we still sing together the famous line, "Let there be peace on earth?"
As this song suggest, let the peace begin within ourselves...