POLITICS: Peace with the Moros – Part 2

07/3/2016 | 8:51 0 Posted in Local Issues, The World, Uncategorized

The Bansamoro Movement

Peace with the Moros – Part 2

Like so many parts of the world where a certain ethnic minority is in a majority by percentage of population, it is but a matter of time before there is a popular uprising to get their due rights due to the superiority in numbers.

The situation being similar in the Mindanao area of Southern Philippines, it was a matter of time that the fires of communal hatred were lit in the late 1960s since the government at the helm of affairs was Christian governments.

The purpose of the popular rebellion was simple; to gain independence from the rest of the country and establish an Islamic homeland.

In the resultant struggle which erupted the government forces gained intelligence about a secret camp Sabah that was planning a covert attack in a secret mission; in the operation conducted by the government forces, which became known as the Jabidah massacre, 28 militants that were under training there, were mowed down by the troops.

In spite of this setback, the Muslims militants were not to be cowed down, that is why they did achieve what they have achieved till now; but, 1972 saw the fructification of their efforts in the form of the Moro National Liberation Front with Nur Misuari being its founder.

Nur Misuari

Better known as the founder of the MNLF, he is a revolutionary who took up cudgels against the Filipino government in demanding a separate homeland for the Muslim majority population of the region that is now referred to as the Bangsmoro region.

He was born in the Tapul town of Sulu in 1939, which makes him now at a ripe age of 77 years; he was to a fisherman and his and his mother was Dindaghail Pining. It is known that his father was of a distinguished lineage having descended from one of the greatest warriors of the Tausug Panglima Mahabasser Eldji who was one of the principle representatives of the Sultan of Sulu who was instrumental in the civil war in Borneo wherein he helped the Brunei Sultan’s army.

The grateful Sultans rewarded the Tausugs with the ownership of Sabah which happens to be the Eastern State and is adjacent to the Philippines. Consequently, the family led by the father of Misuari moved their residence from Tapul to Jolo in Sulu.

Misuari was a small child and hence he spent his early years studying at the Central School from the age of 10 to 16 after which he also studied in the secondary school from 16 years of age to 19 at the Sulu National High School but financial difficulties soon forced an abrupt curtailment since he could not afford to provide him fees for his college studies.

It was with the help of one of his teachers that he was able to study at the University of the Philippines in Manila by a scholarship that was funded by the Commission on National Integration.

Muslim Independence Movement

The MIM was an outcome of the Jabidah massacre that occurred in March 1968, barely two months later, there was another significant happening that moved the movement further; a manifesto was issued by a retired governor of Cotabato who, under the name of MIM, demanded the independence of such areas of southern Philippines that were predominantly Muslim dominate.

These areas included the regions of Palawan, Sulu and Mindanao.

To assuage the Muslims of Cotabato with the assurance of being part of this popular movement, the name of the movement was altered to Mindanao Independence Movement; thus, the demand for a separate Muslim state was officially launched.

However, even though this entity did not continue for long, it is still remembered by the Muslim populace as the one that laid the foundation stone for the rights of the Muslim dominated portions of Philippines which demanded the rights of self-determination.

The common man still considers the Mindanao Independence Movement as the first clarion call and there are quite a few who are of the considered opinion that the fall of MIM was the main reason for the creation of the Moro National Liberation Front.

The MNLF

On account of the initial failure of the secessionist Muslim movement due to the occurrence of the Jabidah Massacre the Muslim populace was making repeated efforts to forms associations that would bring together the Muslims to fight for independence and for the creation of a Muslim homeland.

When it began in 1972, it was part of a secessionist movement MIM, which splintered to form various breakaway groups of which MNLF was a major one. It was the premier group led by Misuari who were the leading fighters for the formation of Bangsamoro republic and dominated the Muslim and Lumad movement for a separate state.