by Romy Sabaldan
Davao City (8 September) -- A TOTAL of Php 300,000 in grants await winners of the Hatag Kalinaw Grant Competition being undertaken by the British Council Philippines in collaboration with UK Partners for Peace.
This, as the organizers of the grant announce today the selection of ten finalists from participants composed of school and community-based youth organisations in Mindanao.
The finalists and the name of their organizations, place where they belong and names of the projects are as follows:
TAGABILI of Koronadal City for "Kumustahanay", LInayag Artist (Cotabato) for "Painting for Peace",
Kids for Peace Foundation, Inc. (Cotabato City) for "Paminaw Ug Ipadayon ang Kalinaw",
Bangsamoro Center for JustPeace (Cotabato City) for "Engendering Awareness on Protection of Children ion in Armed Conflict",
Tri-People Silent Club (Cotabato) for "Inter-Faithg dialogue for Deaf Youth in the Quest for Peace and Development",
Mangagawang Kababaihang Mithi ay Paglaya-MAKALAYA (Davao City) for "MA", Bangsamoro Youth-Ranao Center for Peace and Development, Inc. (Marawi City) for "Peace, Justice and Development through Education", Philippine Women's College of Davao (Davao City) for "Peace Enhancement among Community and Student Organisations (PEACSO)", Lumad Inter-Tribal Student Organisation, Inc. -LISO (Tagum City) for "Promotion of Peace and Culture among IP Youth thru Cultural Arts" and Inspired Young Optimists Guild - IYOG (Marawi City) for "IYOG sa Kalilintad".
The top five project proponents based on points gained from the on-line voting and scores earned in the preliminary judging will advance to the final phase of the competition. They will battle it out on a panel presentation on September 16 2006. The three winning proponents will receive up to Php100,000 to implement their projects over a six-month period. (PIA-XI)
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Temporary Restraining Order (TRO): Never Again!
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Diplomatic row grants aid to human rights winning projects
MANILA, Dec. 10 (PNA) — The embassies of Spain, Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand, United Kingdom, European Union and the Asia Foundation on Tuesday each awarded grants of up to P1 million to winners in eight categories of an inaugural human rights writing competition billed as “Kasama” (Karapatan Sa Malikhaing Paraan) convened by the Asia Foundation.
Kasama was launched last October 13 “to foster bold ideas and encourage innovation, risk-taking and determination in addressing perennial human rights concerns,” according to the Asia Foundation.
The winners in the respective categories were: Indigenous People - Developmental Legal Assistance Centre, Farmers - Water, Agro-forestry, Nutrition and Development Foundation, Women - The Forum for Family Planning and Development Inc. and Engende Rights Inc., Prison - Humanitarian Legal Assistance Foundation, Media and the Arts--VERA Files Inc., Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, Dakila Philippines, and Anthroposophia Wellness foundation Inc., Poverty — Filipino Matters, Desaparecidos—Free Jonas Burgos Movement, and Peace —Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace in the Philippines Inc.
The winner in the Indigenous People category’s winning project was titled, “Start-up for DepEd-Acredited, Culturally-Appropriate, Pre-School Curriculum for Indigenous Children of the Menuvu and Mehindanew.”
The project, “Establishment of Community-based Human Rights Watch”, was the winning entry of the Bangsamoro Center under the Peace category.
The winning entry in the Farmers’ category was a project titled “Emancipation of the Near-landing Farmers and Implementation of the Co-management Land Scheme in Dipology City.
”Paralegal Coordinators Project” was the title of the winner in the Prison category, while “Naks! A non-profit junkshop and Recycling Center” was the winning entry under the Poverty category.
Kasama is described as a “facility for development partners on one hand to share resources, and for non-governmental organizations, people’s organizations, student groups, cooperatives and other private non-profit organizations, on the other hand, to develop and obtain funding for their ground-breaking work.”
It invited human rights advocates from various parts of the country to craft and submit exceptional proposals on a wide range of human rights issues, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.(PNA)
Kasama was launched last October 13 “to foster bold ideas and encourage innovation, risk-taking and determination in addressing perennial human rights concerns,” according to the Asia Foundation.
The winners in the respective categories were: Indigenous People - Developmental Legal Assistance Centre, Farmers - Water, Agro-forestry, Nutrition and Development Foundation, Women - The Forum for Family Planning and Development Inc. and Engende Rights Inc., Prison - Humanitarian Legal Assistance Foundation, Media and the Arts--VERA Files Inc., Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, Dakila Philippines, and Anthroposophia Wellness foundation Inc., Poverty — Filipino Matters, Desaparecidos—Free Jonas Burgos Movement, and Peace —Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace in the Philippines Inc.
The winner in the Indigenous People category’s winning project was titled, “Start-up for DepEd-Acredited, Culturally-Appropriate, Pre-School Curriculum for Indigenous Children of the Menuvu and Mehindanew.”
The project, “Establishment of Community-based Human Rights Watch”, was the winning entry of the Bangsamoro Center under the Peace category.
The winning entry in the Farmers’ category was a project titled “Emancipation of the Near-landing Farmers and Implementation of the Co-management Land Scheme in Dipology City.
”Paralegal Coordinators Project” was the title of the winner in the Prison category, while “Naks! A non-profit junkshop and Recycling Center” was the winning entry under the Poverty category.
Kasama is described as a “facility for development partners on one hand to share resources, and for non-governmental organizations, people’s organizations, student groups, cooperatives and other private non-profit organizations, on the other hand, to develop and obtain funding for their ground-breaking work.”
It invited human rights advocates from various parts of the country to craft and submit exceptional proposals on a wide range of human rights issues, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.(PNA)
Displaced children gets food feeding program in Datu Piang
Some 400 internally displaced children seeking refuge at Datu Gumbay High School in Datu Piang, Maguimdanao were served with a food feeding program initiated by non-governmental organizations.
Datu Gumbay High School hase been covereted into an evacuation center since August last year, thus depriving the children of education.
Pasasambao Health Services, Incorporated (Pihsi) and Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace (BCJP) spearheaded the food feeding program yesterday as part of their continuing monitoring on the condition of the children’s health, psychology and education since their deplorable case displacements in August 2008.
“We served complete meal for the children who had been staying in the severe-conditioned evacuation centers, particularly in Maguindanao,” told an organizer to Luwaran.Com/Net.
He said that the clear effects on education, emotion / psycholgy and health of the children brought about by the resumption of hostilities between the government soldiers and fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are “unimaginable.”
Renewed government military operations brandishing the entire might of the Philippine armed forces, paramilitaries and armed militias and civilians against the MILF in Maguindanao started on August 20, 2008.
The total number of internally displaced persons due to these armed confrontation had reached to a high of nearly 600,000, wherein more than half of this are children.
Pihsi and BCJP had called on concerned agencies to intensify regular health / medical, vitamin supllementation and sanitation services for the children, even as they appealed to stop using schools as evacuation centers so as not to hamper the education for the children.
Both NGOs expressed anxious on the dire consequences of the continuing militray campaign, atrocities and violence especially on the psyche of the innocent children.
Datu Gumbay High School hase been covereted into an evacuation center since August last year, thus depriving the children of education.
Pasasambao Health Services, Incorporated (Pihsi) and Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace (BCJP) spearheaded the food feeding program yesterday as part of their continuing monitoring on the condition of the children’s health, psychology and education since their deplorable case displacements in August 2008.
“We served complete meal for the children who had been staying in the severe-conditioned evacuation centers, particularly in Maguindanao,” told an organizer to Luwaran.Com/Net.
He said that the clear effects on education, emotion / psycholgy and health of the children brought about by the resumption of hostilities between the government soldiers and fighters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are “unimaginable.”
Renewed government military operations brandishing the entire might of the Philippine armed forces, paramilitaries and armed militias and civilians against the MILF in Maguindanao started on August 20, 2008.
The total number of internally displaced persons due to these armed confrontation had reached to a high of nearly 600,000, wherein more than half of this are children.
Pihsi and BCJP had called on concerned agencies to intensify regular health / medical, vitamin supllementation and sanitation services for the children, even as they appealed to stop using schools as evacuation centers so as not to hamper the education for the children.
Both NGOs expressed anxious on the dire consequences of the continuing militray campaign, atrocities and violence especially on the psyche of the innocent children.
Reporting on Mindanao’s war front
DEVELOPMENT DIALOGUE
By Nora O. Gamolo
Journalists who joined the first ever combined coverage team of Manila and Mindanao-based writers (including this writer) find ominous the succession of bombings in different parts of Mindanao after they concluded their almost aborted visit to evacuation centers in Cotabato.
Just two months ago, the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center noted that the Philippines had the largest number of “conflict-induced” newly internally displaced people in 2008. Some 600,000 people fled the fighting between the Philippine military and rebel groups in Mindanao. They accounted for 13 percent of the 4.6 million newly internally displaced people around the world in 2008. Mindanao’s latest round of bombings cements its unfortunate tag as the violence capital of the country.
On July 5, the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotabato City was bombed at about 8:40 a.m., killing five and wounding 52 civilians. Next day, bombs were also set off in Jolo and Iligan City. All bombed areas are part of the disputed Bangsamoro Homeland. One wonders who the bombers were and what motivated them to set off those bombs. Soldiers claim it was the handiwork of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels. Critics suspect men loyal to President Gloria Arroyo, accused of planning to keep her post at all costs. Others say the US soldiers now in several points in Mindanao may have a hand in this outrage.
In Mindanao, every act of violence can set off a chain reaction of almost unmanageable proportions, heightening long-raging conflicts in this beautiful but bloodied land. Only those who gain from people’s confusion and predictably emotional reactions can possibly do such dastardly acts. It is easy to identify the losers in the continuing drama in the Bangsamoro Homeland. These are civilians who die or get bereaved in the violence, or who get dispossessed of their land and property as they move out of the battlegrounds, or from harm’s way. Mindanao’s losers count the women, children, elderly, and economically marginalized who do not have the resources to pit against the agents of violence.
Many are now housed in evacuation centers made from partitioned classrooms, barangay halls or public places. Many such structures are now decrepit due to multiple uses and users. Identifying the gainers in the violent cycles in Mindanao is probably the main challenge of journalists who stake their lives to cover Mindanao’s war fronts, and the stakeholders who dream of a peace-filled, developed, and providential Mindanao. Mindanao beckons all who are willing to accept these challenges. Yet, these are only for the courageous, since one could lose not just his shirt, but dear life as well, in the process.
With the bombings, the situation has become tensely fluid, with all stakeholders demanding an impartial investigation, and for all concerned parties to observe sobriety and strengthen their efforts in promoting inter-peoples’ unity and peace-building. Said Abdulbasit Benito, head of the Cotabato City-based Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace in the Philippines (BCJP), “Aggrieved families should calm down and wait for the result of the investigation to avoid panic and possible religious conflict.”
While drowning out long-standing problems from the media and the public’s attention, the bombings are also aggravating them. They mask the harsh realities of all forms of violence, including evacuations that affect more than 693,000 civilians displaced from August 2008 to date. Before the new bombings, Mindanao witnessed a comedy of errors.
On June 30, soldiers stopped the joint media coverage team who trooped to the evacuation centers last week. The blocking soldiers from the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division said they were ordered by superiors not to let the journalists pass through without clearance from their superiors.
The journalists’ visit was publicly announced and known beforehand to the military. They were even scheduled to have a dialogue with military officers in the afternoon of the same day. Obviously flabbergasted, the media were told that soldiers first had to clear the path they were taking to Datu Piang and Mamasapano towns. An incendiary explosive device exploded a day earlier in an adjoining town, and the military supposedly didn’t want any untoward incident involving the media.
Now, that was uncustomarily sweet. Mindanao journalists have always been apprehensive of soldiers, police and the paramilitia units they have set up, including the private armies of politicians. These forces are accused of complicity in several media killings, from martial law years to the present. June 30 was different. More than 60 journalists and civil society guides spent a precious hour and a half arguing their right to pass through in the name of media freedom, and the outnumbered soldiers were obviously discomfited by this garrulous group.
Within that time, a convoy of provisions from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) came by and in minutes, allowed to pass through. The journalists were left behind in the checkpoint still awaiting their clearance, and wondering why the soldiers were less disposed to “secure” the ICRC personnel.
ngamolo@manilatimes.net ngamolo@gmail.com
By Nora O. Gamolo
Journalists who joined the first ever combined coverage team of Manila and Mindanao-based writers (including this writer) find ominous the succession of bombings in different parts of Mindanao after they concluded their almost aborted visit to evacuation centers in Cotabato.
Just two months ago, the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center noted that the Philippines had the largest number of “conflict-induced” newly internally displaced people in 2008. Some 600,000 people fled the fighting between the Philippine military and rebel groups in Mindanao. They accounted for 13 percent of the 4.6 million newly internally displaced people around the world in 2008. Mindanao’s latest round of bombings cements its unfortunate tag as the violence capital of the country.
On July 5, the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotabato City was bombed at about 8:40 a.m., killing five and wounding 52 civilians. Next day, bombs were also set off in Jolo and Iligan City. All bombed areas are part of the disputed Bangsamoro Homeland. One wonders who the bombers were and what motivated them to set off those bombs. Soldiers claim it was the handiwork of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels. Critics suspect men loyal to President Gloria Arroyo, accused of planning to keep her post at all costs. Others say the US soldiers now in several points in Mindanao may have a hand in this outrage.
In Mindanao, every act of violence can set off a chain reaction of almost unmanageable proportions, heightening long-raging conflicts in this beautiful but bloodied land. Only those who gain from people’s confusion and predictably emotional reactions can possibly do such dastardly acts. It is easy to identify the losers in the continuing drama in the Bangsamoro Homeland. These are civilians who die or get bereaved in the violence, or who get dispossessed of their land and property as they move out of the battlegrounds, or from harm’s way. Mindanao’s losers count the women, children, elderly, and economically marginalized who do not have the resources to pit against the agents of violence.
Many are now housed in evacuation centers made from partitioned classrooms, barangay halls or public places. Many such structures are now decrepit due to multiple uses and users. Identifying the gainers in the violent cycles in Mindanao is probably the main challenge of journalists who stake their lives to cover Mindanao’s war fronts, and the stakeholders who dream of a peace-filled, developed, and providential Mindanao. Mindanao beckons all who are willing to accept these challenges. Yet, these are only for the courageous, since one could lose not just his shirt, but dear life as well, in the process.
With the bombings, the situation has become tensely fluid, with all stakeholders demanding an impartial investigation, and for all concerned parties to observe sobriety and strengthen their efforts in promoting inter-peoples’ unity and peace-building. Said Abdulbasit Benito, head of the Cotabato City-based Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace in the Philippines (BCJP), “Aggrieved families should calm down and wait for the result of the investigation to avoid panic and possible religious conflict.”
While drowning out long-standing problems from the media and the public’s attention, the bombings are also aggravating them. They mask the harsh realities of all forms of violence, including evacuations that affect more than 693,000 civilians displaced from August 2008 to date. Before the new bombings, Mindanao witnessed a comedy of errors.
On June 30, soldiers stopped the joint media coverage team who trooped to the evacuation centers last week. The blocking soldiers from the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division said they were ordered by superiors not to let the journalists pass through without clearance from their superiors.
The journalists’ visit was publicly announced and known beforehand to the military. They were even scheduled to have a dialogue with military officers in the afternoon of the same day. Obviously flabbergasted, the media were told that soldiers first had to clear the path they were taking to Datu Piang and Mamasapano towns. An incendiary explosive device exploded a day earlier in an adjoining town, and the military supposedly didn’t want any untoward incident involving the media.
Now, that was uncustomarily sweet. Mindanao journalists have always been apprehensive of soldiers, police and the paramilitia units they have set up, including the private armies of politicians. These forces are accused of complicity in several media killings, from martial law years to the present. June 30 was different. More than 60 journalists and civil society guides spent a precious hour and a half arguing their right to pass through in the name of media freedom, and the outnumbered soldiers were obviously discomfited by this garrulous group.
Within that time, a convoy of provisions from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) came by and in minutes, allowed to pass through. The journalists were left behind in the checkpoint still awaiting their clearance, and wondering why the soldiers were less disposed to “secure” the ICRC personnel.
ngamolo@manilatimes.net ngamolo@gmail.com
Re: PHILIPPINES: Soldiers torture and shoot a farmer dead in front of his family
Name of the victim: Katog Sapalon, 37 years old, married with three children, a farmer and charcoal maker, a resident of Barangay Makir, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao province. He was a Muslim of a Maguindanaon tribe.
Alleged perpetrators: Five soldiers attached to the 6th Infantry Battalion (IB), Philippine Army, stationed in Barangay Gubat Datu, Odin Sinsuat.
Date of incident: June 3, 2009 at 7:30am
Place of incident: At the boundary of Barangay Makir and Sapalan, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao province
I am shocked to learn that Katog Sapalon, a farmer and a charcoal maker, was tortured and shot dead by soldiers in front of his family in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao province. The soldiers shot him at close range at his home after he refused to confess that he was a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel group.
According the information I have received on June 3, 2009 at around 7:30am five heavily-armed men, who later identified themselves as soldiers on a military operation, began interrogating Katog. They punched and kicked him while asking questions, using their fists and feet, and the butts of their armalite rifles. The shots that killed him shattered his left eye and fractured his head.
After several hours the family saw the soldiers taking the victim’s corpse away; they borrowed a water buffalo (carabao) to transport it. It was seen being taken to the detachment of the 6th Infantry Battalion (IB), Philippine Army (PA) in Barangay Gubat Datu, Odin Sinsuat by witnesses, and a village chairperson later went to the camp to claim the body for the family.
It has been a number of days since the incident but police officers from the Municipal Police Station in Datu Odin Sinsuat say they have not been able to investigate the case. They did not log the incident in their police blotter.
I therefore urge the government agencies concerned to ensure that an impartial investigation into this case is conducted. The five soldiers responsible for torturing and killing the victim must be identified and prosecuted in a court of law, and should the victim's family decides to pursue complaint against the five soldiers they should also be afforded with the necessary legal assistance and protection.
The government should also ensure that the victim's family is offered compensation and financial assistance for their livelihood, if needed. The victim was the family bread winner and his death will affect their daily survival.
Also, please also ensure that the victim's wife and children are offered trauma counseling and rehabilitation for the psychological trauma that they have experienced
Alleged perpetrators: Five soldiers attached to the 6th Infantry Battalion (IB), Philippine Army, stationed in Barangay Gubat Datu, Odin Sinsuat.
Date of incident: June 3, 2009 at 7:30am
Place of incident: At the boundary of Barangay Makir and Sapalan, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao province
I am shocked to learn that Katog Sapalon, a farmer and a charcoal maker, was tortured and shot dead by soldiers in front of his family in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao province. The soldiers shot him at close range at his home after he refused to confess that he was a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel group.
According the information I have received on June 3, 2009 at around 7:30am five heavily-armed men, who later identified themselves as soldiers on a military operation, began interrogating Katog. They punched and kicked him while asking questions, using their fists and feet, and the butts of their armalite rifles. The shots that killed him shattered his left eye and fractured his head.
After several hours the family saw the soldiers taking the victim’s corpse away; they borrowed a water buffalo (carabao) to transport it. It was seen being taken to the detachment of the 6th Infantry Battalion (IB), Philippine Army (PA) in Barangay Gubat Datu, Odin Sinsuat by witnesses, and a village chairperson later went to the camp to claim the body for the family.
It has been a number of days since the incident but police officers from the Municipal Police Station in Datu Odin Sinsuat say they have not been able to investigate the case. They did not log the incident in their police blotter.
I therefore urge the government agencies concerned to ensure that an impartial investigation into this case is conducted. The five soldiers responsible for torturing and killing the victim must be identified and prosecuted in a court of law, and should the victim's family decides to pursue complaint against the five soldiers they should also be afforded with the necessary legal assistance and protection.
The government should also ensure that the victim's family is offered compensation and financial assistance for their livelihood, if needed. The victim was the family bread winner and his death will affect their daily survival.
Also, please also ensure that the victim's wife and children are offered trauma counseling and rehabilitation for the psychological trauma that they have experienced
PHILIPPINES: Soldiers torture and shoot a farmer dead in front of his family
ISSUES: Torture; extrajudicial execution
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Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing to inform you about the recent torture and killing of a farmer in front of his family. The soldiers, who were on a military operation, assaulted and tortured the victim so that he would confess to being a member of a rebel group. The man repeatedly protested his innocence and the soldiers shot him dead at close range.
CASE DETAILS: (According to information from the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) and the Bangsamoro Center for JustPeace)
On June 3, 2009 Bai Markay and her husband Katog Sapalon, a farmer and charcoal maker, were preparing breakfast when soldiers arrived. It was around 7:30am. According to Bai Markay five heavily-armed men, who later identified themselves as soldiers on a military operation, approached them and began interrogating Katog, who was outside their house cooking fish. The soldiers wanted Katog to confess his involvement with a rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). They punched and kicked him while asking questions, using their fists and feet, and the butts of their armalite rifles.
Katog rushed to embrace his daughter Saida, but as he held her the soldiers continued to punch his left shoulder and pushed him away from her, towards the back of their house. Though Bai Markay pleaded with the soldiers, telling them that he was not an MILF member, they shot Katog at close range in front of his family, hitting several part of his body and killing him instantly. The shots shattered his left eye and fractured his head.
After the shooting Bai Markay asked that she and her children be allowed to leave, but the soldiers initially refused, then told her that she would have to be accompanied by a soldier. However she was eventually able to go freely to the house of her sibling nearby. After several hours they saw the soldiers taking the victim's corpse away; they borrowed a water buffalo (carabao) to transport it. Bai Markay warned her children not to talk about what had happened.
Katog’s corpse was seen being taken to the detachment of the 6th Infantry Battalion (IB), Philippine Army (PA) in Barangay Gubat Datu, Odin Sinsuat by witnesses, and this was later confirmed when a village chairperson went to the camp to claim the body. That person then turned it over to his family and the corpse was buried on the same day, according to Muslim tradition.
Katog was the family breadwinner and was about to enroll his three children at the Datu Butukan Elementary School in Barangay Gubat, Datu Odin Sinsuat. He farmed corn and produced charcoal. Their house in Barangay Makir is about two to three kilometers from the Poblacion (town center) area, in the municipality of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
On June 5, 2009, the Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace in the Philippines (a non-governmental organisation which documents cases of human rights violations in Central Mindanao) followed this case up with the head of the municipal Police Station in Datu Odin Sinsuat. They learned that the incident has not even been recorded in the police blotter (log).
The acting head of the police station said that they did try to retrieve the victim’s corpse from the soldiers' custody at the military camp but that the soldiers had prevented them. The police are supposed to have primary jurisdiction in the community where the incident took place, claim not to be aware of the overall military operation that has sent many of the villagers to evacuation centres.
The police have yet to investigate Katog's torture and murder.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the government asking that they ensure a swift and impartial investigation into the murder of Katog Sapalon. The five soldiers should be identified and held to account. The victim's family should also be given compensation and provided with proper rehabilitation for trauma. Protection should also be made available to them should they require it.
The AHRC has also written letters to the Special Rapporteurs on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions and on the Question of Torture asking for their intervention into this case.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing to inform you about the recent torture and killing of a farmer in front of his family. The soldiers, who were on a military operation, assaulted and tortured the victim so that he would confess to being a member of a rebel group. The man repeatedly protested his innocence and the soldiers shot him dead at close range.
CASE DETAILS: (According to information from the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) and the Bangsamoro Center for JustPeace)
On June 3, 2009 Bai Markay and her husband Katog Sapalon, a farmer and charcoal maker, were preparing breakfast when soldiers arrived. It was around 7:30am. According to Bai Markay five heavily-armed men, who later identified themselves as soldiers on a military operation, approached them and began interrogating Katog, who was outside their house cooking fish. The soldiers wanted Katog to confess his involvement with a rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). They punched and kicked him while asking questions, using their fists and feet, and the butts of their armalite rifles.
Katog rushed to embrace his daughter Saida, but as he held her the soldiers continued to punch his left shoulder and pushed him away from her, towards the back of their house. Though Bai Markay pleaded with the soldiers, telling them that he was not an MILF member, they shot Katog at close range in front of his family, hitting several part of his body and killing him instantly. The shots shattered his left eye and fractured his head.
After the shooting Bai Markay asked that she and her children be allowed to leave, but the soldiers initially refused, then told her that she would have to be accompanied by a soldier. However she was eventually able to go freely to the house of her sibling nearby. After several hours they saw the soldiers taking the victim's corpse away; they borrowed a water buffalo (carabao) to transport it. Bai Markay warned her children not to talk about what had happened.
Katog’s corpse was seen being taken to the detachment of the 6th Infantry Battalion (IB), Philippine Army (PA) in Barangay Gubat Datu, Odin Sinsuat by witnesses, and this was later confirmed when a village chairperson went to the camp to claim the body. That person then turned it over to his family and the corpse was buried on the same day, according to Muslim tradition.
Katog was the family breadwinner and was about to enroll his three children at the Datu Butukan Elementary School in Barangay Gubat, Datu Odin Sinsuat. He farmed corn and produced charcoal. Their house in Barangay Makir is about two to three kilometers from the Poblacion (town center) area, in the municipality of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
On June 5, 2009, the Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace in the Philippines (a non-governmental organisation which documents cases of human rights violations in Central Mindanao) followed this case up with the head of the municipal Police Station in Datu Odin Sinsuat. They learned that the incident has not even been recorded in the police blotter (log).
The acting head of the police station said that they did try to retrieve the victim’s corpse from the soldiers' custody at the military camp but that the soldiers had prevented them. The police are supposed to have primary jurisdiction in the community where the incident took place, claim not to be aware of the overall military operation that has sent many of the villagers to evacuation centres.
The police have yet to investigate Katog's torture and murder.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the government asking that they ensure a swift and impartial investigation into the murder of Katog Sapalon. The five soldiers should be identified and held to account. The victim's family should also be given compensation and provided with proper rehabilitation for trauma. Protection should also be made available to them should they require it.
The AHRC has also written letters to the Special Rapporteurs on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions and on the Question of Torture asking for their intervention into this case.
Moro groups launch Human Rights Center in Cotabato on Saturday
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Moro groups form human rights center to address issues in ARMM
By ALI G. MACABALANG
October 27, 2009, 7:10pm
COTABATO CITY – Moro organizations are launching here this week the Mindanao Human Rights Action Center (MHRAC) to address related issues in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), for which the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) does not have a regional office.
The launching rites are set on Saturday, October 31, at the Pacific Heights and Marqueza hotels in this city, the 19-year temporary seat of the ARMM government.
The MHRAC is designed to “foster respect for human rights, constitutional rights, and promote the rule of law in Mindanao; monitor and expose human rights violations; and promote critical human rights awareness among the people through education, training, research and documentations,” organizers said in a press statement.
Behind the MHRAC are the: Bangsamoro Lawyers’ Network; Institute of Bangsamoro Studies; Bangsamoro Women Solidarity Forum, Inc.; Kadtuntaya Foundation Inc.; Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society; United Youth for Peace and Development; United Youth of the Philippines; Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace; Kangudan Development Center Inc.; IPRC; Bangsamoro Center for Law and Policy; and the Al Ihsan Foundation.
The center will also “promote cooperation and solidarity among regional, national and international organizations active in the field of human rights,” they added.
CHR Chairperson Leila de Lima, who was invited to talk on “Human Rights for All” at the ceremonies, is expected to forge a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the MHRAC organizers during the rites. However, the nature of the MoA was not given.
MHRAC executive director Paisal Abdul will give the welcome remarks and present delegates during the launch, while lawyer Anwar Malang, MHRAC chair, will give an overview of the center.
Other speakers are Christina Haw Tai-Jover of the CHR office here (human rights situation in the region), CBCS secretary-general Sammy Maulana (realities of human rights violations in Mindanao), and Abdulbasit Benito, executive director of the Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace (closing remarks).
October 27, 2009, 7:10pm
COTABATO CITY – Moro organizations are launching here this week the Mindanao Human Rights Action Center (MHRAC) to address related issues in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), for which the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) does not have a regional office.
The launching rites are set on Saturday, October 31, at the Pacific Heights and Marqueza hotels in this city, the 19-year temporary seat of the ARMM government.
The MHRAC is designed to “foster respect for human rights, constitutional rights, and promote the rule of law in Mindanao; monitor and expose human rights violations; and promote critical human rights awareness among the people through education, training, research and documentations,” organizers said in a press statement.
Behind the MHRAC are the: Bangsamoro Lawyers’ Network; Institute of Bangsamoro Studies; Bangsamoro Women Solidarity Forum, Inc.; Kadtuntaya Foundation Inc.; Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society; United Youth for Peace and Development; United Youth of the Philippines; Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace; Kangudan Development Center Inc.; IPRC; Bangsamoro Center for Law and Policy; and the Al Ihsan Foundation.
The center will also “promote cooperation and solidarity among regional, national and international organizations active in the field of human rights,” they added.
CHR Chairperson Leila de Lima, who was invited to talk on “Human Rights for All” at the ceremonies, is expected to forge a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the MHRAC organizers during the rites. However, the nature of the MoA was not given.
MHRAC executive director Paisal Abdul will give the welcome remarks and present delegates during the launch, while lawyer Anwar Malang, MHRAC chair, will give an overview of the center.
Other speakers are Christina Haw Tai-Jover of the CHR office here (human rights situation in the region), CBCS secretary-general Sammy Maulana (realities of human rights violations in Mindanao), and Abdulbasit Benito, executive director of the Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace (closing remarks).
Obama's New 'Just Peace' Policy
President Obama broke with traditional Just War thinking in his Nobel prize acceptance speech, and so far almost no one seems to have noticed. The president said that the "old architecture" of thinking about war and peace is "buckling." What is required now, argued the president, is to "think in new ways about the notions of just war and the imperatives of just peace."
If there is an emerging "Obama Doctrine" on war and peace, it is contained in these "new ways," not in the older Just War theory alone. Just War theory, a doctrine first developed by St. Augustine in the early fifth century, has been around for a long time. Just War language was a significant part of Obama's Oslo speech, and it was used specifically to describe the kinds of structural violence that endures in the world, especially "genocide in Darfur; systematic rape in Congo; or repression in Burma."
If there is an emerging "Obama Doctrine" on war and peace, it is contained in these "new ways," not in the older Just War theory alone. Just War theory, a doctrine first developed by St. Augustine in the early fifth century, has been around for a long time. Just War language was a significant part of Obama's Oslo speech, and it was used specifically to describe the kinds of structural violence that endures in the world, especially "genocide in Darfur; systematic rape in Congo; or repression in Burma."
BCJP condemns Cotabato blast
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Cotabato City
July 6, 2009
The Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace in the Philippines (BCJP) condemns in the highest possible terms the bombing incident that happened yesterday in front of Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotabato City at around 8:40am wounding 52 innocent civilians and immediately killing 5 others after the explosion.
BCJP is strongly:
CALLING the attention of the Philippine National Police and other security forces of the government to conduct immediate investigation on the causes of the incident squarely and bring this perpetrator/s into justice with due process;
ENCOURAGING families of those affected civilians to calm down and wait for the result of the investigation to avoid panic and possible religious conflict in the long run;
CALLING the attention of Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines to tighten their security measures not only within the perimeters of Cotabato City but through out the region as we have known bombings is possible to any vulnerable crowded places;
CALLING the presence of the Bishops, Ulamas and Civil Society Organizations to observe sobriety, intensify unity at this time thru dialogues and consultations;
CALLING all civilians throughout the regions to be vigilant all the time.
Cotabato City
July 6, 2009
The Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace in the Philippines (BCJP) condemns in the highest possible terms the bombing incident that happened yesterday in front of Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotabato City at around 8:40am wounding 52 innocent civilians and immediately killing 5 others after the explosion.
BCJP is strongly:
CALLING the attention of the Philippine National Police and other security forces of the government to conduct immediate investigation on the causes of the incident squarely and bring this perpetrator/s into justice with due process;
ENCOURAGING families of those affected civilians to calm down and wait for the result of the investigation to avoid panic and possible religious conflict in the long run;
CALLING the attention of Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines to tighten their security measures not only within the perimeters of Cotabato City but through out the region as we have known bombings is possible to any vulnerable crowded places;
CALLING the presence of the Bishops, Ulamas and Civil Society Organizations to observe sobriety, intensify unity at this time thru dialogues and consultations;
CALLING all civilians throughout the regions to be vigilant all the time.
About the Center for JustPeace in Asia
The Center for Justpeace in Asia (CJPA) traces its beginnings to a workshop organized in 2001 by Documentation for Action Groups in Asia (DAGA) and the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), where participants discussed the need for a regional program to support and promote grassroots initiatives in peacemaking and conflict transformation. For a more complete background, read the DAGA report.
As the world moves deeper into the 21st century and the era of globalisation, peace emerging from social and structural justice (justpeace) seems distant and untouchable for a vast number of the world's inhabitants. Asia, too, has its share of old and new conflicts that just do not seem to go away. Ethnic conflicts rage on in Burma and Sri Lanka, religious conflicts continue in Philippines, Indonesia and India while border conflicts and cultural conflicts often dominate the evening news. What the evening news rarely says is that a large number of these conflicts are orchestrated by economic and/or political forces, often of an international and global nature, bent on claiming control over limited natural and human resources. Rather than helping solve these conflicts the globalisation process seems to be actually fuelling them.
Increased awareness of these conflicts has also sparked a growing interest in the fields of conflict transformation and peacemaking, especially in the countries of the north. A growing number of American universities are offering both undergraduate and graduate courses in conflict transformation and peace making. Skilled practitioners from North America and Europe travel globally to help groups in conflict learn the skills necessary to bring about peaceful solutions to conflicts. While all of these activities are built on good intentions, there is an emerging feeling among community workers in Asia that the models being imported from the north may not be designed to help identify the history and culture of these conflicts and thus they can not lead toward true justpeace. The feeling among a growing number of Asian activists is that many, if not most, of the conflicts in Asia grow out of structural injustices. Many of these structures have been imposed on Asia by local power elite forces and by nations that hold global economic and political advantage. Any model of conflict transformation and peacemaking that helps protect this status quo can not usher in a peace based on true justice because justpeace requires transformation at the root of the local and global structures that create and fuel these conflicts.
We in Asia can learn much from the research and experience of the conflict transformation and peacemaking movement in the north. However, Asia also has a rich and very long history of living in community, solving conflicts and building justice. Traditional models of conflict transformation and peacemaking have been very effectively practiced at the village and community levels throughout Asia, and even though little has been written about these models, they have proven their worth through their own histories. Great harm will be done if these traditional models are ignored and replaced with models from the north that may not only be culturally insensitive, but which may completely ignore the root causes of the conflicts, allowing them to continue to exist like a cancer hidden under the skin.
The purpose of this project is to connect grassroots peace activists from around Asia to enable a process of discussing, documenting and building the indigenous experiences of local grassroots communities and to seek ways to make use of this accumulated wisdom and experience to develop more effective and appropriate models for conflict transformation and peacemaking at the national and global levels. This project is part of DAGA's plan to design an on-going program that can support the World Council of Church's (WCC) Decade of Overcoming Violence (DOV).
The CJPA also hopes to be a link between justpeace movements in Asia and those in Africa, Europe and North/South America in order to strengthen the global justpeace movement.
As the world moves deeper into the 21st century and the era of globalisation, peace emerging from social and structural justice (justpeace) seems distant and untouchable for a vast number of the world's inhabitants. Asia, too, has its share of old and new conflicts that just do not seem to go away. Ethnic conflicts rage on in Burma and Sri Lanka, religious conflicts continue in Philippines, Indonesia and India while border conflicts and cultural conflicts often dominate the evening news. What the evening news rarely says is that a large number of these conflicts are orchestrated by economic and/or political forces, often of an international and global nature, bent on claiming control over limited natural and human resources. Rather than helping solve these conflicts the globalisation process seems to be actually fuelling them.
Increased awareness of these conflicts has also sparked a growing interest in the fields of conflict transformation and peacemaking, especially in the countries of the north. A growing number of American universities are offering both undergraduate and graduate courses in conflict transformation and peace making. Skilled practitioners from North America and Europe travel globally to help groups in conflict learn the skills necessary to bring about peaceful solutions to conflicts. While all of these activities are built on good intentions, there is an emerging feeling among community workers in Asia that the models being imported from the north may not be designed to help identify the history and culture of these conflicts and thus they can not lead toward true justpeace. The feeling among a growing number of Asian activists is that many, if not most, of the conflicts in Asia grow out of structural injustices. Many of these structures have been imposed on Asia by local power elite forces and by nations that hold global economic and political advantage. Any model of conflict transformation and peacemaking that helps protect this status quo can not usher in a peace based on true justice because justpeace requires transformation at the root of the local and global structures that create and fuel these conflicts.
We in Asia can learn much from the research and experience of the conflict transformation and peacemaking movement in the north. However, Asia also has a rich and very long history of living in community, solving conflicts and building justice. Traditional models of conflict transformation and peacemaking have been very effectively practiced at the village and community levels throughout Asia, and even though little has been written about these models, they have proven their worth through their own histories. Great harm will be done if these traditional models are ignored and replaced with models from the north that may not only be culturally insensitive, but which may completely ignore the root causes of the conflicts, allowing them to continue to exist like a cancer hidden under the skin.
The purpose of this project is to connect grassroots peace activists from around Asia to enable a process of discussing, documenting and building the indigenous experiences of local grassroots communities and to seek ways to make use of this accumulated wisdom and experience to develop more effective and appropriate models for conflict transformation and peacemaking at the national and global levels. This project is part of DAGA's plan to design an on-going program that can support the World Council of Church's (WCC) Decade of Overcoming Violence (DOV).
The CJPA also hopes to be a link between justpeace movements in Asia and those in Africa, Europe and North/South America in order to strengthen the global justpeace movement.
PRESS STATEMENT Releases by Faith and Peace
PRESS RELEASE
JANUARY 13, 2008
Ref: Abdulbasit R. "bobby" Benito
Civil Society Organizations Mass Rally for Peace in General Santos City
General Santos City- January 10, 2008. Sympathy and frustration was reflected in the eyes of some 20,000 people notwithstanding the scorching sun as they participated in an interfaith mass action which started with a march for peace from Queen Tuna Park to the Freedom Park and ended with an interfaith and prayer rally here.
The rally was the third leg of a series of peace rallies in Mindanao organized by the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS) that kicked off at Cotabato City in January 7, 2008 to pressure the Philippine Government to sincerely engage with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and go back to the negotiating table and sign and eventually implement an final peace agreement, as well as truthfully keep its word with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in implementing the second phase of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement.
The March-rally was scheduled to start at 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon. However, the trucks that carried participants from the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and South Cotabato started to arrive at 9:00am, making the assembly area at Queen Tuna Park jam-packed even before 12:00 noon. Some of the people were forced to walk to the much wider Freedom Park earlier than the scheduled march proper to accommodate the large crowd of peace advocates.
General Santos City bombings and other random incidents in SOCSKSARGEN has consistently caught the attention of the media and the general public. The interfaith and peace rally also commemorated the 1 st year anniversary of the GenSan Lotto Outlet bombing incident which killed six civilians and injured 36 others.
"We don't want bombings in SOCSKSARGEN anymore!" said Oscar Solaiman, the CBCS-Rajah Buayan Regional Management Committee (CBCS-RBRMC) Chairmperson. "SOCSKSARGEN is now a haven of peace" he furthered, attributing mainly this state of peace to three factors, "emergence of strong local leaders, protection from both the police and the military, and the present gains of the peace processes".
But due to the recently "stalled peace talks, hopes were suddenly replaced by fears", Solaiman added, referring to the cancellation of the anticipated signing of a Memorandum of Agreement on the issue of ancestral domain between the MILF and the GRP that was supposed to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 15-17, 2007.
Solaiman contended that the clamor of the MNLF to the unaccomplished review the 1996 Final Peace Accord with the Government "adds to the obstacles of the Bangsamoro People to achieve genuine peace".
"The peaceful lives of the Bangsamoro were shattered by the tremors brought about by the coming of the colonizers" said Sammy Maulana, CBCS Secretary General during his speech. "We are not begging anything from the Government, we just want to regain our homeland and restore our inalienable rights to self determination, both as people and a nation".
Most of the misery expressed was focused on the vacillating stance of the GRP in non-conforming to hard-earned consensus points on the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) that was prior agreed upon with the MILF. "The GRP has to demonstrate integrity by honoring the consensus points", said Anwar Saluwang of the United Youth of the Philippines for Peace in Development (UNYPAD).
The frailty of the Government to bequeath its political will is viewed as the core barrier that impinges the realization of the peace processes in Mindanao.
Pastor Frank Bantilan, a Lumad religious leader from Sarangani Province, together with other B'laans, said that they are distressed by the sudden impasse of the peace talks between the GRP and the MILF. "Muslims and Lumads are more than brothers" "we feel no different pain" he said with conviction.
"Tri-People", the term commonly associated with SOCSKSARGEN is mainly due to the existence of diverse tribes belonging to the Indigenous People, Christian and Muslims. "This is not a time for war" he uttered calling for stronger unity between the Lumads and Muslims.
In a Position paper, the Moro CSOs and other non-Moro supporters pointed out that "the most civilized and acceptable way to resolve conflict is through negotiation". And the best way for a negotiation to succeed is "sincerity, honesty and political will".
These positions were fervently made known by the CSOs: "The real implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the MNLF and Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), the restoration of the peace talks between the GRP and the MILF, and for the Government to bestow its 'political will' towards the realization of the peace processes".
Along with these points is the condemning of bombing incidents and any form of terrorist acts that had taken the lives of many innocent civilians, whether Muslim or Christian, in SOCSKSARGEN. The rally ended with a plea for the souls of those who died in the bombings that had brought fear to the hearts of SOCSKSARGEN, with the hope that it will never happen again.
The CBCS is now preparing for the next legs of this series of peace rallies in Mindanao within the month in Basilan, Pagadian, Zamboanga and Sulu that is expected to draw together the concerned groups and sectors in these regions to continue the call for genuine peace in Mindanao.
JANUARY 13, 2008
Ref: Abdulbasit R. "bobby" Benito
Civil Society Organizations Mass Rally for Peace in General Santos City
General Santos City- January 10, 2008. Sympathy and frustration was reflected in the eyes of some 20,000 people notwithstanding the scorching sun as they participated in an interfaith mass action which started with a march for peace from Queen Tuna Park to the Freedom Park and ended with an interfaith and prayer rally here.
The rally was the third leg of a series of peace rallies in Mindanao organized by the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS) that kicked off at Cotabato City in January 7, 2008 to pressure the Philippine Government to sincerely engage with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and go back to the negotiating table and sign and eventually implement an final peace agreement, as well as truthfully keep its word with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in implementing the second phase of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement.
The March-rally was scheduled to start at 1:00 o'clock in the afternoon. However, the trucks that carried participants from the provinces of Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and South Cotabato started to arrive at 9:00am, making the assembly area at Queen Tuna Park jam-packed even before 12:00 noon. Some of the people were forced to walk to the much wider Freedom Park earlier than the scheduled march proper to accommodate the large crowd of peace advocates.
General Santos City bombings and other random incidents in SOCSKSARGEN has consistently caught the attention of the media and the general public. The interfaith and peace rally also commemorated the 1 st year anniversary of the GenSan Lotto Outlet bombing incident which killed six civilians and injured 36 others.
"We don't want bombings in SOCSKSARGEN anymore!" said Oscar Solaiman, the CBCS-Rajah Buayan Regional Management Committee (CBCS-RBRMC) Chairmperson. "SOCSKSARGEN is now a haven of peace" he furthered, attributing mainly this state of peace to three factors, "emergence of strong local leaders, protection from both the police and the military, and the present gains of the peace processes".
But due to the recently "stalled peace talks, hopes were suddenly replaced by fears", Solaiman added, referring to the cancellation of the anticipated signing of a Memorandum of Agreement on the issue of ancestral domain between the MILF and the GRP that was supposed to take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on December 15-17, 2007.
Solaiman contended that the clamor of the MNLF to the unaccomplished review the 1996 Final Peace Accord with the Government "adds to the obstacles of the Bangsamoro People to achieve genuine peace".
"The peaceful lives of the Bangsamoro were shattered by the tremors brought about by the coming of the colonizers" said Sammy Maulana, CBCS Secretary General during his speech. "We are not begging anything from the Government, we just want to regain our homeland and restore our inalienable rights to self determination, both as people and a nation".
Most of the misery expressed was focused on the vacillating stance of the GRP in non-conforming to hard-earned consensus points on the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) that was prior agreed upon with the MILF. "The GRP has to demonstrate integrity by honoring the consensus points", said Anwar Saluwang of the United Youth of the Philippines for Peace in Development (UNYPAD).
The frailty of the Government to bequeath its political will is viewed as the core barrier that impinges the realization of the peace processes in Mindanao.
Pastor Frank Bantilan, a Lumad religious leader from Sarangani Province, together with other B'laans, said that they are distressed by the sudden impasse of the peace talks between the GRP and the MILF. "Muslims and Lumads are more than brothers" "we feel no different pain" he said with conviction.
"Tri-People", the term commonly associated with SOCSKSARGEN is mainly due to the existence of diverse tribes belonging to the Indigenous People, Christian and Muslims. "This is not a time for war" he uttered calling for stronger unity between the Lumads and Muslims.
In a Position paper, the Moro CSOs and other non-Moro supporters pointed out that "the most civilized and acceptable way to resolve conflict is through negotiation". And the best way for a negotiation to succeed is "sincerity, honesty and political will".
These positions were fervently made known by the CSOs: "The real implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the MNLF and Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP), the restoration of the peace talks between the GRP and the MILF, and for the Government to bestow its 'political will' towards the realization of the peace processes".
Along with these points is the condemning of bombing incidents and any form of terrorist acts that had taken the lives of many innocent civilians, whether Muslim or Christian, in SOCSKSARGEN. The rally ended with a plea for the souls of those who died in the bombings that had brought fear to the hearts of SOCSKSARGEN, with the hope that it will never happen again.
The CBCS is now preparing for the next legs of this series of peace rallies in Mindanao within the month in Basilan, Pagadian, Zamboanga and Sulu that is expected to draw together the concerned groups and sectors in these regions to continue the call for genuine peace in Mindanao.
Army’s action in Mindanao ineffective, says priest
DAVAO CITY, July 10, 2009 – Instead of solving the problem, Oblates of Mary Immaculate priest Fr. Eduardo Vasquez, Jr. said that the military action in Mindanao is not helping the already awful situation of the people brought about by sufferings and displacements.
“Our conclusion is that the military action had not been effective. Solving this problem [peace], therefore, should be done in the context of the peace process,” Vasquez said as quoted by Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC).
Vasquez said that it would help if the Adhoc Joint Action Group (AJAG) created by both government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to investigate and recommend punitive actions against erring MILF troops be reconstituted immediately, conduct a thorough and impartial investigation on the charges hurled against the MILF commanders and recommend punitive action against them if found guilty of the charges.”
He added that the concern on MILF erring commanders is not only exclusive to the military but also includes the MILF so both should work together.
The government, earlier, imposed a P10 million bounty for each information that would lead to the arrest of MILF commanders Ameril Umbra Kato, Abdulrahman Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, and P5-million for Amil Solaiman Pangalian charged of murder, multiple murder, frustrated murder and arson.
“Police action is also ineffective in the past 11 months, so they should rethink,” said Vasquez, also the parish priest of Sta. Teresita Parish, home to about 300 Catholic families in Datu Piang and coordinator of the Inter-religious Dialogue Program of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and head of the I-Watch, a media arm of the Oblates.
IDP consultations, 7/14
Meanwhile, the result of the series of consultations on the plight of internally displaced persons (IDPs ) in Mindanao will be presented for public discussion on July 14 in Cotabato City.
A series of consultation/dialogue between and among IDS from Barangay Ganta, Penditen, Bakat and Inaladan all in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao were conducted by a non-government organization (NGO) from May 18- June 18, 2009.
The consultation focuses on the plight of the IDPs as well their day-to-day struggles in the different evacuation camps in the province.
Abdulbasit R. Benito, executive director of Bangsamoro Center for JustPeace in the Phil’s. Inc. (BCJP), an institution working towards the advancement of culture of peace said, the consultation dialogue is triggered on the recent wave of displacement that happened sometime last April in Barangay Ganta, Penditen, Bakat, Inaladan in Datu Saudi Ampatuan where civilians are forced to flee because of unrelenting hostilities in the ground.
“[After this presentation] civilians are expected to come up with their own recommendation when it comes to their safety and security in the area and also to share the documented plight of the civilians displaced by the current hostilities and shed light on the issues of unpredictable military shelling to those barangays,” said Benito.
The result of the consultation with the IDPs will be presented at Bai Labi Hall of El Manuel Convention Center in Cotabato City.
Some of its objectives are for the civil society organizations (CSOs) to share their expertise and resources; for military to orient displaced civilians and humanitarian players regarding objectives of their operation to avoid panic and trauma and for civilians to present their recommendations and options regarding their safety and security in the ground while tensions are going on. (Mark S. Ventura)
“Our conclusion is that the military action had not been effective. Solving this problem [peace], therefore, should be done in the context of the peace process,” Vasquez said as quoted by Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC).
Vasquez said that it would help if the Adhoc Joint Action Group (AJAG) created by both government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to investigate and recommend punitive actions against erring MILF troops be reconstituted immediately, conduct a thorough and impartial investigation on the charges hurled against the MILF commanders and recommend punitive action against them if found guilty of the charges.”
He added that the concern on MILF erring commanders is not only exclusive to the military but also includes the MILF so both should work together.
The government, earlier, imposed a P10 million bounty for each information that would lead to the arrest of MILF commanders Ameril Umbra Kato, Abdulrahman Macapaar, alias Commander Bravo, and P5-million for Amil Solaiman Pangalian charged of murder, multiple murder, frustrated murder and arson.
“Police action is also ineffective in the past 11 months, so they should rethink,” said Vasquez, also the parish priest of Sta. Teresita Parish, home to about 300 Catholic families in Datu Piang and coordinator of the Inter-religious Dialogue Program of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and head of the I-Watch, a media arm of the Oblates.
IDP consultations, 7/14
Meanwhile, the result of the series of consultations on the plight of internally displaced persons (IDPs ) in Mindanao will be presented for public discussion on July 14 in Cotabato City.
A series of consultation/dialogue between and among IDS from Barangay Ganta, Penditen, Bakat and Inaladan all in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao were conducted by a non-government organization (NGO) from May 18- June 18, 2009.
The consultation focuses on the plight of the IDPs as well their day-to-day struggles in the different evacuation camps in the province.
Abdulbasit R. Benito, executive director of Bangsamoro Center for JustPeace in the Phil’s. Inc. (BCJP), an institution working towards the advancement of culture of peace said, the consultation dialogue is triggered on the recent wave of displacement that happened sometime last April in Barangay Ganta, Penditen, Bakat, Inaladan in Datu Saudi Ampatuan where civilians are forced to flee because of unrelenting hostilities in the ground.
“[After this presentation] civilians are expected to come up with their own recommendation when it comes to their safety and security in the area and also to share the documented plight of the civilians displaced by the current hostilities and shed light on the issues of unpredictable military shelling to those barangays,” said Benito.
The result of the consultation with the IDPs will be presented at Bai Labi Hall of El Manuel Convention Center in Cotabato City.
Some of its objectives are for the civil society organizations (CSOs) to share their expertise and resources; for military to orient displaced civilians and humanitarian players regarding objectives of their operation to avoid panic and trauma and for civilians to present their recommendations and options regarding their safety and security in the ground while tensions are going on. (Mark S. Ventura)
a call to end violence
MPC: Stop the bombings
Mindanao has again returned to the theatre of war with hundreds of thousands of people currently displaced in Cotabato, Maguindanao and Lanao plus the series of bombings launched in the region by still unidentified perpetrators.
“This is enough. The bloodshed must stop. We cannot continue to be drawn into this quagmire of war and violence. We cannot continue to watch our children die one by one. We cannot allow the civilians to pay such a high cost for this war which is not going anywhere. We are concerned with the civilians as much as we also mourn for the loss of lives of combatants, soldiers and rebels alike,” the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) in a statement said.
“We, as a people, must put an end to this carnage now. It is time to unite, Muslims and Christians alike. We have to take bolder steps to create a safer and more secure environment for our children and family. A step into that direction is to work out for a ceasefire in the conflict affected areas and allow the internally displaced persons to return home.”
The group also condemned the recent bombings in Cotabato City, Jolo and Iligan claimed the lives of innocent people, young and old. “ …we are outraged by the spate of violence happening in Cotabato and Maguindanao which only shows our collective failure to resolve this lingering armed conflict,” the group said.
CALL FOR VIGILANCE
Meanwhile, Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace in the Philippines Inc., (BCJP) Executive Director Abdulbasit R. Benito said that more than anything else the people should unite now to call for peace and put an end to all the violence in Mindanao.
“We are calling on the presence of the Bishops, Ulamas and Civil Society Organizations to observe sobriety, intensify unity at this time through dialogues and consultations,” he said.
Benito also encouraged families of those affected civilians to calm down even as they appealed to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other security forces of the government to conduct an in-depth investigation and bring all perpetrators into justice with due process.
Since 2003, Mindanao has relatively enjoyed the dividends of peace as a result of a functional ceasefire agreement under the auspices of the Joint Ceasefire Committee of both government and the MILF. From a record of around 700 ceasefire violations in 2002, it has dramatically dropped to less than 10 violations in 2007, due to the cooperation of the government, MILF and the International Monitoring Team. The ceasefire agreement has effectively silenced the guns in Mindanao.
But, in the aftermath of the MOA-AD controversy, the gains of the peace process had been thrown into the dust bin. The ceasefire had collapsed, the IMT had packed up and left for good and the ceasefire committee had been demobilized as the hawks took over the war front. (Mark S. Ventura)
Mindanao has again returned to the theatre of war with hundreds of thousands of people currently displaced in Cotabato, Maguindanao and Lanao plus the series of bombings launched in the region by still unidentified perpetrators.
“This is enough. The bloodshed must stop. We cannot continue to be drawn into this quagmire of war and violence. We cannot continue to watch our children die one by one. We cannot allow the civilians to pay such a high cost for this war which is not going anywhere. We are concerned with the civilians as much as we also mourn for the loss of lives of combatants, soldiers and rebels alike,” the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) in a statement said.
“We, as a people, must put an end to this carnage now. It is time to unite, Muslims and Christians alike. We have to take bolder steps to create a safer and more secure environment for our children and family. A step into that direction is to work out for a ceasefire in the conflict affected areas and allow the internally displaced persons to return home.”
The group also condemned the recent bombings in Cotabato City, Jolo and Iligan claimed the lives of innocent people, young and old. “ …we are outraged by the spate of violence happening in Cotabato and Maguindanao which only shows our collective failure to resolve this lingering armed conflict,” the group said.
CALL FOR VIGILANCE
Meanwhile, Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace in the Philippines Inc., (BCJP) Executive Director Abdulbasit R. Benito said that more than anything else the people should unite now to call for peace and put an end to all the violence in Mindanao.
“We are calling on the presence of the Bishops, Ulamas and Civil Society Organizations to observe sobriety, intensify unity at this time through dialogues and consultations,” he said.
Benito also encouraged families of those affected civilians to calm down even as they appealed to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other security forces of the government to conduct an in-depth investigation and bring all perpetrators into justice with due process.
Since 2003, Mindanao has relatively enjoyed the dividends of peace as a result of a functional ceasefire agreement under the auspices of the Joint Ceasefire Committee of both government and the MILF. From a record of around 700 ceasefire violations in 2002, it has dramatically dropped to less than 10 violations in 2007, due to the cooperation of the government, MILF and the International Monitoring Team. The ceasefire agreement has effectively silenced the guns in Mindanao.
But, in the aftermath of the MOA-AD controversy, the gains of the peace process had been thrown into the dust bin. The ceasefire had collapsed, the IMT had packed up and left for good and the ceasefire committee had been demobilized as the hawks took over the war front. (Mark S. Ventura)
Letter of Appeal to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
August 29, 2008
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
UN Headquarters
New York, USA
Dear Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,
Subject: armed conflict in Southern Philippines
We would like to express utmost concern about the recent breakout of violence in Southern Philippines (parts of Mindanao island) following the issuance of a temporary restraining order against the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on August 4, 2008.
Fifty (50) people, most of whom are civilians, have been killed and some 220,000 have been displaced by the recent attacks in Lanao and North Cotabato provinces.
While we believe that MILF units that targeted villages have engaged in serious violations of international law and should be held accountable, we are also seriously concerned about the formation of armed militia units with support from the Department of Interior and Local Government. The setting up of armed groups will not protect civilians as some local government officials believe. Rather, it will lead to more chaos, insecurity and division among local communities. The protection of civilians is the responsibility of the State and its security sector such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
We thank you for your statement of August 13th where you expressed concern about the unfolding humanitarian crisis and appealed for restraint, protection of all civilians as well as access for the provision of speedy humanitarian assistance to the affected population.
We now call on your office to bring the government of the Republic of the Philippines and MILF back to the peace negotiation table as soon as possible. We also call on you to demand both parties to honor their obligation under Security Council Resolution 1325 which is to ensure women’s equal and fair participation in peace processes and ensure the protection of women and children who are the most vulnerable in armed conflict situations. Finally, we hope that these efforts will lay the groundwork for the United Nations to become the main peace broker in the Mindanao peace process.
Yours sincerely,
Group Signatories
Mindanao Commission on Women
Mothers for Peace
Mindanao Peoples' Peace Movement
Mindanao Tri-People Women
Mindanao Young Women Leaders Forum
Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy
Political Caucus of Women Leaders in Mindanao.
Center for Peace Education, Miriam College
Peace Education Network, Philippines
Women's Crisis Center Manila
Muslim Women Peace Advocates (MWPA)
Individual Signatories:
Abdulbasit R. Benito, Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace Inc.
Lourdes Portus, University of the Philippines
Nathan Gilbert Quimpo, University of Tsukuba
Bianca Miglioretto
Benedicto Q. Sánchez, Broad Initiatives for Negros Development
Dr. Susana Salavador-Anayatin, Graduate Schools of Notre Dame University and Mindanao State University
Elvie Villarido-Manaytay, The Zamaboanga Sibugay Tribune
Chan lean heng, Science University of Malaysia
With endorsements from:
International Women's Tribune Centre
Isis International
Boston Consortium on Gender Security and Human Rights
Sri Lanka Women and Media Collective
Women Action for New Directions
Femlink Pacific
* Endorsement will be solicited from other women’s groups from around the world and networks such as the New York-based NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security
Cc:
* the president of the UN General Assembly
* members of the UN Security Council; the Philippine mission to the UN; the following country missions to the UN: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Japan, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, Sweden, USA
* the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and the embassies of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Japan, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, Sweden, and USA in Manila
* World Bank
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
UN Headquarters
New York, USA
Dear Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,
Subject: armed conflict in Southern Philippines
We would like to express utmost concern about the recent breakout of violence in Southern Philippines (parts of Mindanao island) following the issuance of a temporary restraining order against the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on August 4, 2008.
Fifty (50) people, most of whom are civilians, have been killed and some 220,000 have been displaced by the recent attacks in Lanao and North Cotabato provinces.
While we believe that MILF units that targeted villages have engaged in serious violations of international law and should be held accountable, we are also seriously concerned about the formation of armed militia units with support from the Department of Interior and Local Government. The setting up of armed groups will not protect civilians as some local government officials believe. Rather, it will lead to more chaos, insecurity and division among local communities. The protection of civilians is the responsibility of the State and its security sector such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.
We thank you for your statement of August 13th where you expressed concern about the unfolding humanitarian crisis and appealed for restraint, protection of all civilians as well as access for the provision of speedy humanitarian assistance to the affected population.
We now call on your office to bring the government of the Republic of the Philippines and MILF back to the peace negotiation table as soon as possible. We also call on you to demand both parties to honor their obligation under Security Council Resolution 1325 which is to ensure women’s equal and fair participation in peace processes and ensure the protection of women and children who are the most vulnerable in armed conflict situations. Finally, we hope that these efforts will lay the groundwork for the United Nations to become the main peace broker in the Mindanao peace process.
Yours sincerely,
Group Signatories
Mindanao Commission on Women
Mothers for Peace
Mindanao Peoples' Peace Movement
Mindanao Tri-People Women
Mindanao Young Women Leaders Forum
Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy
Political Caucus of Women Leaders in Mindanao.
Center for Peace Education, Miriam College
Peace Education Network, Philippines
Women's Crisis Center Manila
Muslim Women Peace Advocates (MWPA)
Individual Signatories:
Abdulbasit R. Benito, Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace Inc.
Lourdes Portus, University of the Philippines
Nathan Gilbert Quimpo, University of Tsukuba
Bianca Miglioretto
Benedicto Q. Sánchez, Broad Initiatives for Negros Development
Dr. Susana Salavador-Anayatin, Graduate Schools of Notre Dame University and Mindanao State University
Elvie Villarido-Manaytay, The Zamaboanga Sibugay Tribune
Chan lean heng, Science University of Malaysia
With endorsements from:
International Women's Tribune Centre
Isis International
Boston Consortium on Gender Security and Human Rights
Sri Lanka Women and Media Collective
Women Action for New Directions
Femlink Pacific
* Endorsement will be solicited from other women’s groups from around the world and networks such as the New York-based NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security
Cc:
* the president of the UN General Assembly
* members of the UN Security Council; the Philippine mission to the UN; the following country missions to the UN: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Japan, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, Sweden, USA
* the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and the embassies of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Japan, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, Sweden, and USA in Manila
* World Bank
Martial Law ghosts haunt Moro areas
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Muslims condemn military operation during Eid al-Fitr
Published in the CBCP News
DAVAO CITY, Sept 21, 2009—As the Muslims celebrate the Eid al-Fitr, a holy day that marks the end of Ramadhan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, they also condemn the recent military operations in Indanan, Sulu yesterday.
Government soldiers conducted military action while the Muslims are observing the holy day of Eid of which they are in an atmosphere of prayers.
Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace in the Philippines Inc., (BCJP) Executive Director Abdulbasit R. Benito said that the recent military action of the government is a direct affront to the Muslim communities especially in their holy observance of Eid.
“Niyurakan muli ng mga Marines sa Indanan Sulu ang mga Muslim habang sila ay sumasampalataya sa pagdiriwang ng Eid al Fitr, ang banal na araw,” he said.
In June 2003, government soldiers also attacked the Buliok Complex while Muslims were praying and commemorating the Eid al–Fitr and in September 30 of last year government troops also launched similar attacks in Pagatin and Madia, Datu Saudi Ampatuan Maguindanao in time of Eid.
Benito has called on the government to seriously look into the sincerity of their commitment to bring about lasting peace in Mindanao as well as in affording respect to the religious practices of Muslims.
Meanwhile, in commemoration of the 37th anniversary of the declaration of Martial law, Benito also recalled the countless violence committed by the government against the Bangsamoro people.
“Mahigit sa Isang Daang Libong Moro ang namatay dahil sa matitinding Military Operations na inilundsad ng diktadorang Marcos, di mabilang na mga Moro ang nakulong at na torture, milyon-milyong mga ari arian ang nawasak. Naging dahilan ito upang ang mga Moro ay dumanas ng matinding kahirapan, kaguluhan at kawalan ng edukasyon,” Benito said in a statement sent to CBCPNews today.
He added that all these caused deep wounds among the Moro people especially the women and children who are greatly affected by the conflicts.
“Ang sakit at hapdi ng sugat ay ramdam na ramdam parin ng mga Moro hanggang sa kasalukuyan sapagkat hindi ito nahihilom, bagkus nagiging sariwa ito sapagkat patuloy pa rin ang giyera sa Mindanao kung saan libu-libong mga Muslim ang naghihirap. Hanggang sa ngayon, ang mga biktima ng pang-aabuso ng pasistang rehimeng Marcos ay patuloy na naghahanap ng hustisya,” he said, adding:
“May mga nagsasabi na hindi naman bumalik ang panahon ng Martial Law, tama sila, sapagkat wala namang deklarasyon mula sa pekeng pangulo na nagsasabi nga ng ganito. Ngunit, sa istilo ng paggamit sa kinamkam na kapangyarihan, sa mga polisiya at batas na ipinasa ng administrasyong Arroyo, hindi na nga kailangan ng deklarasyon ng Batas Militar, dahil sa kabuuang epekto ng mga ito, wala nang pinagkaiba ang kalagayan ng bansa 37 taon na ang nakalipas.”
Benito said that the displacements of more than 700 internally displaced persons in Maguindanao, burning of houses and destroying of properties, indiscriminate shelling and firing in civilian communities are the recent manifestations of martial rule.
“Kaya nga kahit Ika Tatlumpot Pitong (37) taon na ang nakalipas, hindi lamang ang mga mapang-abusong gawain ni Marcos ang nabibigyan ng buhay at nanunumbalik sa ating mga alaala. Kung hindi, ang mga panunupil ng goberno sa pamamagitan ng malawakang militarisasyon sa Mindanao.” (Mark S. Ventura
DAVAO CITY, Sept 21, 2009—As the Muslims celebrate the Eid al-Fitr, a holy day that marks the end of Ramadhan, the Islamic holy month of fasting, they also condemn the recent military operations in Indanan, Sulu yesterday.
Government soldiers conducted military action while the Muslims are observing the holy day of Eid of which they are in an atmosphere of prayers.
Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace in the Philippines Inc., (BCJP) Executive Director Abdulbasit R. Benito said that the recent military action of the government is a direct affront to the Muslim communities especially in their holy observance of Eid.
“Niyurakan muli ng mga Marines sa Indanan Sulu ang mga Muslim habang sila ay sumasampalataya sa pagdiriwang ng Eid al Fitr, ang banal na araw,” he said.
In June 2003, government soldiers also attacked the Buliok Complex while Muslims were praying and commemorating the Eid al–Fitr and in September 30 of last year government troops also launched similar attacks in Pagatin and Madia, Datu Saudi Ampatuan Maguindanao in time of Eid.
Benito has called on the government to seriously look into the sincerity of their commitment to bring about lasting peace in Mindanao as well as in affording respect to the religious practices of Muslims.
Meanwhile, in commemoration of the 37th anniversary of the declaration of Martial law, Benito also recalled the countless violence committed by the government against the Bangsamoro people.
“Mahigit sa Isang Daang Libong Moro ang namatay dahil sa matitinding Military Operations na inilundsad ng diktadorang Marcos, di mabilang na mga Moro ang nakulong at na torture, milyon-milyong mga ari arian ang nawasak. Naging dahilan ito upang ang mga Moro ay dumanas ng matinding kahirapan, kaguluhan at kawalan ng edukasyon,” Benito said in a statement sent to CBCPNews today.
He added that all these caused deep wounds among the Moro people especially the women and children who are greatly affected by the conflicts.
“Ang sakit at hapdi ng sugat ay ramdam na ramdam parin ng mga Moro hanggang sa kasalukuyan sapagkat hindi ito nahihilom, bagkus nagiging sariwa ito sapagkat patuloy pa rin ang giyera sa Mindanao kung saan libu-libong mga Muslim ang naghihirap. Hanggang sa ngayon, ang mga biktima ng pang-aabuso ng pasistang rehimeng Marcos ay patuloy na naghahanap ng hustisya,” he said, adding:
“May mga nagsasabi na hindi naman bumalik ang panahon ng Martial Law, tama sila, sapagkat wala namang deklarasyon mula sa pekeng pangulo na nagsasabi nga ng ganito. Ngunit, sa istilo ng paggamit sa kinamkam na kapangyarihan, sa mga polisiya at batas na ipinasa ng administrasyong Arroyo, hindi na nga kailangan ng deklarasyon ng Batas Militar, dahil sa kabuuang epekto ng mga ito, wala nang pinagkaiba ang kalagayan ng bansa 37 taon na ang nakalipas.”
Benito said that the displacements of more than 700 internally displaced persons in Maguindanao, burning of houses and destroying of properties, indiscriminate shelling and firing in civilian communities are the recent manifestations of martial rule.
“Kaya nga kahit Ika Tatlumpot Pitong (37) taon na ang nakalipas, hindi lamang ang mga mapang-abusong gawain ni Marcos ang nabibigyan ng buhay at nanunumbalik sa ating mga alaala. Kung hindi, ang mga panunupil ng goberno sa pamamagitan ng malawakang militarisasyon sa Mindanao.” (Mark S. Ventura
STATEMENT of Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace on SR 1281
by Abdullbasit R. Benito, Executive Director, BCJP
Saturday, 29 August 2009 18:08
Published in the MindaNews
29 August, 2009
The large scale displacement of people due to the resumption of the armed conflict between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in August 2008, has been reported by the Geneva based Internal Displaced Monitoring Center as the highest number of newly displaced people in the world and the most neglected (internal displacement situation) in 2008. Of the 700,000 IDPs more than 250,000 still remain displaced after a year of renewed hostilities. Situations of burned houses, meager belongings and farmlands destroyed, and many of their children no longer in school has created deep wounds and made the lives of the civilians miserable. Also, cases of human rights violations occurring everywhere have added to the worsening scenario. In effect, IDPs still spending their second Ramadan in evacuation centers in deplorable conditions with limited access to food and livelihoods make their observance of fasting most difficult.
The recent SOMO of the government and the MILF’s SOMA, have raised hopes for the IDP’s to safely retun to their villages and starts a new life.
However, with the Senate Resolution No. 1281 introduced by Senate Defense Committee chair Senator Rodolfo G. Biazon (if approved by the senate) these renewed hopes and the excitement of IDPs to return home will be in vain. And all the efforts of the civil society who worked long and hard for the resumption of the peace talks will all be trashed. The proposed Suspension of the Resumption of the Peace Talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is counter productive to the on going peace efforts of both the government and the MILF including the efforts of the peace advocates that gained tremendous support from several peace groups in the country and abroad.
The alleged treachery shown by the MILF, which led to the death of 23 soldiers in an encounter in Basilan province on August 12, 2009 as bases of the Hon. Senator to suspend the peace talks, is an allegation that needs to be proven through an impartial investigation by an independent fact finding body. This problem will be addressed if the ceasefire mechanism that has been already emplaced in the ground will be activated.
History tells us that this conflict in Mindanao cannot be resolved through the use of force; in less than a year, the government spent almost 2 billion pesos in its recent military operations against the so called 3 rogue members of the MILF but the subjects of the manhunt are still at large.
With this, we challenge the good senator to demonstrate his alternative to peace talks should his proposal be adopted in the senate. Does he mean to go to war? And cause more destruction of lives and property? More hungry mouths to feed and more children deprived of education and a normal life? If that is so, then the good senator will be isolated as the world denounces violence as a solution to any conflict particularly the political and sovereignty based problem, such as the Bangsamoro problem in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan.
Abdulbasit R. Benito
Executive Director
Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace in the Phil's. Inc.
B C J P
Int. 003-c, Don S. Sero Street
Rosary Heights 4
Cotabato City
Philippines
Tel. N o. (064) 390 2726
Saturday, 29 August 2009 18:08
Published in the MindaNews
29 August, 2009
The large scale displacement of people due to the resumption of the armed conflict between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in August 2008, has been reported by the Geneva based Internal Displaced Monitoring Center as the highest number of newly displaced people in the world and the most neglected (internal displacement situation) in 2008. Of the 700,000 IDPs more than 250,000 still remain displaced after a year of renewed hostilities. Situations of burned houses, meager belongings and farmlands destroyed, and many of their children no longer in school has created deep wounds and made the lives of the civilians miserable. Also, cases of human rights violations occurring everywhere have added to the worsening scenario. In effect, IDPs still spending their second Ramadan in evacuation centers in deplorable conditions with limited access to food and livelihoods make their observance of fasting most difficult.
The recent SOMO of the government and the MILF’s SOMA, have raised hopes for the IDP’s to safely retun to their villages and starts a new life.
However, with the Senate Resolution No. 1281 introduced by Senate Defense Committee chair Senator Rodolfo G. Biazon (if approved by the senate) these renewed hopes and the excitement of IDPs to return home will be in vain. And all the efforts of the civil society who worked long and hard for the resumption of the peace talks will all be trashed. The proposed Suspension of the Resumption of the Peace Talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), is counter productive to the on going peace efforts of both the government and the MILF including the efforts of the peace advocates that gained tremendous support from several peace groups in the country and abroad.
The alleged treachery shown by the MILF, which led to the death of 23 soldiers in an encounter in Basilan province on August 12, 2009 as bases of the Hon. Senator to suspend the peace talks, is an allegation that needs to be proven through an impartial investigation by an independent fact finding body. This problem will be addressed if the ceasefire mechanism that has been already emplaced in the ground will be activated.
History tells us that this conflict in Mindanao cannot be resolved through the use of force; in less than a year, the government spent almost 2 billion pesos in its recent military operations against the so called 3 rogue members of the MILF but the subjects of the manhunt are still at large.
With this, we challenge the good senator to demonstrate his alternative to peace talks should his proposal be adopted in the senate. Does he mean to go to war? And cause more destruction of lives and property? More hungry mouths to feed and more children deprived of education and a normal life? If that is so, then the good senator will be isolated as the world denounces violence as a solution to any conflict particularly the political and sovereignty based problem, such as the Bangsamoro problem in Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan.
Abdulbasit R. Benito
Executive Director
Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace in the Phil's. Inc.
B C J P
Int. 003-c, Don S. Sero Street
Rosary Heights 4
Cotabato City
Philippines
Tel. N o. (064) 390 2726
Peace talk in Mindanao
Urging the GRP to break the stand-off in the peace talks with the MILF
When the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) started talking peace with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) on January 7, 1997, the former pushed for a single-point agendum for the peace negotiations that is “How to solve the ‘Bangsamoro Problem”.
And there was a “gentlemen’s agreement” by the negotiating parties that the MILF would not bring out the issue of independence in the talks and the government the issue of constitution, sovereignty and territorial integrity as part of confidence building measures.
It has been a public knowledge that the goal of the Bangsamoro struggle is to liberate themselves from the clutches of the oppressive and neo-colonial Philippine regime including foreign colonialism to ultimately regain full independence. The MILF never made it an agenda in its peace talks with the GRP to uphold the said “gentlemen’s agreement”.
Since 1997, the parties have already signed a number of peace agreements, joint communiqués and aide-memoirs, among others. In all those documents, one can nowhere find such words and phrases as independence, constitutional process or sovereignty and territorial integrity. There was, however, some reference on international human rights laws as well as international humanitarian laws.
However, during the 13th Exploratory Talks held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last September 6-7, the peace panels did not come into an agreement on the strand of territory of the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity due to the constitutional process invoked by the government.
Learning from the MNLF experiences, the MILF rejected said offer asserting “it does not want to repeat the failure of the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement (FPA) of September 2, 1996”. Until now the government is yet to deliver its commitment on the said Agreement.
On the other hand, the government stands firm in its position that the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) cannot be expanded unless it goes through a constitutional process. That, its hands are tied to the constitution in any agreement it must enter to with the instruments.
With this situation, we firmly believe that in resolving the Bangsamoro issue, the GRP and the MILF must exert all efforts to be creative and resourceful. The government, on one hand, must give preference to Human Security as the over-all arching goal rather than the state security and refrain from invoking the constitution as the final process in reaching out agreement and peace. The human beings are far greater in value than the state and than the constitution. People’s integrity is more important than territories. The MILF on the other hand can hold in abeyance some of the territories outside of the 613 barangays and the ARMM offered by the government in transitional status to give itself ample time to show the viability of a Moro-led society. In other words, we would like to see the peace process continue beyond the signing of any political settlement.
There is the only way and the right way. The old way and the new way of negotiating employed by the government is not working. Getting out of the constitutional box and exploring a more creative and human security-based means is the right way out.
War is always a threat to human security. There are no winners but only losers.
We, therefore, urge the Government of the Republic of the Philippines to have a strong political will to resolve the impending impasse’ and to be more flexible in its position to the current peace talks.
Signatories:
(SGD) Dr. Pendatun Pangadil
(SGD)Sammy Maulana
Bangsamoro Coalition for Peace Bangsamoro Civil Society for Peace
(BCP) (BCSP)
Prof. Taha Usop (SGD)
Bobby Benito
Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace
(BCJP)
(SGD) Alibai Benito
Bangsamoro Women for Peace
When the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) started talking peace with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) on January 7, 1997, the former pushed for a single-point agendum for the peace negotiations that is “How to solve the ‘Bangsamoro Problem”.
And there was a “gentlemen’s agreement” by the negotiating parties that the MILF would not bring out the issue of independence in the talks and the government the issue of constitution, sovereignty and territorial integrity as part of confidence building measures.
It has been a public knowledge that the goal of the Bangsamoro struggle is to liberate themselves from the clutches of the oppressive and neo-colonial Philippine regime including foreign colonialism to ultimately regain full independence. The MILF never made it an agenda in its peace talks with the GRP to uphold the said “gentlemen’s agreement”.
Since 1997, the parties have already signed a number of peace agreements, joint communiqués and aide-memoirs, among others. In all those documents, one can nowhere find such words and phrases as independence, constitutional process or sovereignty and territorial integrity. There was, however, some reference on international human rights laws as well as international humanitarian laws.
However, during the 13th Exploratory Talks held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last September 6-7, the peace panels did not come into an agreement on the strand of territory of the proposed Bangsamoro Juridical Entity due to the constitutional process invoked by the government.
Learning from the MNLF experiences, the MILF rejected said offer asserting “it does not want to repeat the failure of the GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement (FPA) of September 2, 1996”. Until now the government is yet to deliver its commitment on the said Agreement.
On the other hand, the government stands firm in its position that the existing Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) cannot be expanded unless it goes through a constitutional process. That, its hands are tied to the constitution in any agreement it must enter to with the instruments.
With this situation, we firmly believe that in resolving the Bangsamoro issue, the GRP and the MILF must exert all efforts to be creative and resourceful. The government, on one hand, must give preference to Human Security as the over-all arching goal rather than the state security and refrain from invoking the constitution as the final process in reaching out agreement and peace. The human beings are far greater in value than the state and than the constitution. People’s integrity is more important than territories. The MILF on the other hand can hold in abeyance some of the territories outside of the 613 barangays and the ARMM offered by the government in transitional status to give itself ample time to show the viability of a Moro-led society. In other words, we would like to see the peace process continue beyond the signing of any political settlement.
There is the only way and the right way. The old way and the new way of negotiating employed by the government is not working. Getting out of the constitutional box and exploring a more creative and human security-based means is the right way out.
War is always a threat to human security. There are no winners but only losers.
We, therefore, urge the Government of the Republic of the Philippines to have a strong political will to resolve the impending impasse’ and to be more flexible in its position to the current peace talks.
Signatories:
(SGD) Dr. Pendatun Pangadil
(SGD)Sammy Maulana
Bangsamoro Coalition for Peace Bangsamoro Civil Society for Peace
(BCP) (BCSP)
Prof. Taha Usop (SGD)
Bobby Benito
Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace
(BCJP)
(SGD) Alibai Benito
Bangsamoro Women for Peace
People Power Act to Prevent Outbreak of War
By Norodin M. Makalay
(22-Jan-2008) - Thousands marched nationwide in different key cities to press the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to prevent another war that has claimed more than 100,000 lives already as both field army personnel and MILF are on full alert for any movements from opposing sides in conflict-affected areas in Central Mindanao.
In unprecedented moves uniting civilians, Church sector, MNLF and MILF sympathizers, the peace rallies were held since early this month in the cities of Manila, Cotabato, Marawi, General Santos and later in Iligan, as part of a series of events organized by a network of 164 non-government and people’s organizations of mostly Moros, to break the most serious impasse to stall the peace talks since negotiations started in 1997. Rallies are to be launched in Basilan, Pagadian, Zamboanga and Sulu these coming months.
More than 500 children coming from the different Islamic schools (madrasah) in Barangay Maharlika, Taguig wore green bands (color of Islam) and waved flags, calling for peace in Mindanao in Islamic New Year celebrations (Amoon Jadeed) last January 19.
In Marawi City, civilians filled the public plaza wearing red bands and raised flags with the word, Allahuakbar (Allah is Great).
Foreign observers from the OIC and donor community have also expressed concern in the instability in the peace process.
Foreign observers from the OIC and donor community have also expressed concern on the instability in the peace process.
Talks between the government and the MILF hit a snag last December over disagreements on the coverage of ancestral domain and subjecting it to constitutional process. Secretary Jesus Dureza, the presidential adviser on the peace process, assessed the impasse as “among the most serious to stall the rocky talks, a big hump” upon which the GRP has no “magic formula” while “looking for a way out”.
The MILF negotiating panel refused to meet its government counterpart during the 15th exploratory talks last December 15-17 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because the GRP draft of a proposed memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain supposedly did not contain certain consensus points earlier agreed by the two parties.
The government negotiating panel recently inserted a provision which states that the implementation of the agreement will have to follow “constitutional process.” The setting up of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) was agreed upon by government and MILF negotiators during exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur last year.
This was aggravated by statements from some of the president’s key officials threatening the MILF with sanctions. Secretary Ronaldo Puno Puno was quoted saying, government should not give in to the MILF’s demand for a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) without a plebiscite. AFP Vice Chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Romero stated a condition that peace talks will not continue without MILF’s disarmament.
Negotiations since the all-out war in 2000 progressed because of mutual agreement that government should not refer to Constitution and the MILF would not demand independence.
The Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) considers the Ancestral Domain agenda in the GRP-MILF peace talks as an “opportunity for Mindanawons to revisit our colonial past and correct the historical injustices committed against the indigenous and Bangsamoro peoples in Mindanao.”
“The peaceful lives of the Bangsamoro were shattered by the tremors brought about by the coming of the colonizers” said Sammy Maulana, Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS) secretary-general. “We are not begging anything from the Government, we just want to regain our homeland and restore our inalienable rights to self determination, both as people and a nation”.
Cotabato City-based civil society leader Bobby Benito said there is no doubt that the failure of peace talks will lead to violence, chaos and war . . “But the people are tired of war. It is anti-people and violates the very core values of all religions and civil society: love, peace, nonviolence.”
General Santos-based Pastor Frank Bantilan said that the indigenous people of Mindanao have been distressed by the sudden impasse of the peace talks. “Muslims and Lumads (indigenous people) are more than brothers, we feel no different pain.”
“We, in the civil society are aware of the fact that majority of people in the grassroots desire for a meaningful result of the peace process, not only to put an end to the ravages of war, but to address the longstanding political problem in a non-violent way,” Benito said.
Marawi City-based Lacs Dalidig said, “The failure of peace agreements in the past can be attributed mainly to the non-participation of the Bangsamoro people, because non-participation means they do not own a peace agreement. As real stakeholders, their collective voice should be basis of authority and the last word in the solution of the problem.”
In September 1996, the Philippine government also signed a peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), from which the MILF broke away in 1981.
More than a decade after the signed pact, the MNLF and other critics have accused the Philippine government of lacking sincerity, honesty and political will in fully implementing the agreement and in working for attainment of peace in Mindanao.
Last June 2007, Silvestre Afable, the government chief negotiator in the talks with the MILF resigned, saying he did not enjoy the full confidence of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He was replaced by Rodolfo Garcia, a retired general and former Armed Forces vice chief of staff.
The armed struggle of the Muslims in the Philippines can be traced back in history.
Mindanao is the birthplace of Islam in the country. The Muslims in the islands were indigenous peoples converted to Islam by Arab merchants during the country’s pre-Hispanic history.
Muslims resisted Spanish colonization having established sultanates and trade zones.
The 1898 Treaty of Paris was the turning point where Mindanao was ceded by Spain to the United States said to be an “illegal annexation and exploitation without referendum, plebiscite or consent of the people (of Mindanao).”
Human rights groups say a number of Muslims in the country at present have suffered intensive discrimination, illegal arrests and other forms of human rights violations after having to migrate up North due to unemployment in the South because of having been alleged to have links to terrorist activities.
(22-Jan-2008) - Thousands marched nationwide in different key cities to press the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to prevent another war that has claimed more than 100,000 lives already as both field army personnel and MILF are on full alert for any movements from opposing sides in conflict-affected areas in Central Mindanao.
In unprecedented moves uniting civilians, Church sector, MNLF and MILF sympathizers, the peace rallies were held since early this month in the cities of Manila, Cotabato, Marawi, General Santos and later in Iligan, as part of a series of events organized by a network of 164 non-government and people’s organizations of mostly Moros, to break the most serious impasse to stall the peace talks since negotiations started in 1997. Rallies are to be launched in Basilan, Pagadian, Zamboanga and Sulu these coming months.
More than 500 children coming from the different Islamic schools (madrasah) in Barangay Maharlika, Taguig wore green bands (color of Islam) and waved flags, calling for peace in Mindanao in Islamic New Year celebrations (Amoon Jadeed) last January 19.
In Marawi City, civilians filled the public plaza wearing red bands and raised flags with the word, Allahuakbar (Allah is Great).
Foreign observers from the OIC and donor community have also expressed concern in the instability in the peace process.
Foreign observers from the OIC and donor community have also expressed concern on the instability in the peace process.
Talks between the government and the MILF hit a snag last December over disagreements on the coverage of ancestral domain and subjecting it to constitutional process. Secretary Jesus Dureza, the presidential adviser on the peace process, assessed the impasse as “among the most serious to stall the rocky talks, a big hump” upon which the GRP has no “magic formula” while “looking for a way out”.
The MILF negotiating panel refused to meet its government counterpart during the 15th exploratory talks last December 15-17 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because the GRP draft of a proposed memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain supposedly did not contain certain consensus points earlier agreed by the two parties.
The government negotiating panel recently inserted a provision which states that the implementation of the agreement will have to follow “constitutional process.” The setting up of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) was agreed upon by government and MILF negotiators during exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur last year.
This was aggravated by statements from some of the president’s key officials threatening the MILF with sanctions. Secretary Ronaldo Puno Puno was quoted saying, government should not give in to the MILF’s demand for a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) without a plebiscite. AFP Vice Chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Romero stated a condition that peace talks will not continue without MILF’s disarmament.
Negotiations since the all-out war in 2000 progressed because of mutual agreement that government should not refer to Constitution and the MILF would not demand independence.
The Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) considers the Ancestral Domain agenda in the GRP-MILF peace talks as an “opportunity for Mindanawons to revisit our colonial past and correct the historical injustices committed against the indigenous and Bangsamoro peoples in Mindanao.”
“The peaceful lives of the Bangsamoro were shattered by the tremors brought about by the coming of the colonizers” said Sammy Maulana, Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS) secretary-general. “We are not begging anything from the Government, we just want to regain our homeland and restore our inalienable rights to self determination, both as people and a nation”.
Cotabato City-based civil society leader Bobby Benito said there is no doubt that the failure of peace talks will lead to violence, chaos and war . . “But the people are tired of war. It is anti-people and violates the very core values of all religions and civil society: love, peace, nonviolence.”
General Santos-based Pastor Frank Bantilan said that the indigenous people of Mindanao have been distressed by the sudden impasse of the peace talks. “Muslims and Lumads (indigenous people) are more than brothers, we feel no different pain.”
“We, in the civil society are aware of the fact that majority of people in the grassroots desire for a meaningful result of the peace process, not only to put an end to the ravages of war, but to address the longstanding political problem in a non-violent way,” Benito said.
Marawi City-based Lacs Dalidig said, “The failure of peace agreements in the past can be attributed mainly to the non-participation of the Bangsamoro people, because non-participation means they do not own a peace agreement. As real stakeholders, their collective voice should be basis of authority and the last word in the solution of the problem.”
In September 1996, the Philippine government also signed a peace agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), from which the MILF broke away in 1981.
More than a decade after the signed pact, the MNLF and other critics have accused the Philippine government of lacking sincerity, honesty and political will in fully implementing the agreement and in working for attainment of peace in Mindanao.
Last June 2007, Silvestre Afable, the government chief negotiator in the talks with the MILF resigned, saying he did not enjoy the full confidence of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He was replaced by Rodolfo Garcia, a retired general and former Armed Forces vice chief of staff.
The armed struggle of the Muslims in the Philippines can be traced back in history.
Mindanao is the birthplace of Islam in the country. The Muslims in the islands were indigenous peoples converted to Islam by Arab merchants during the country’s pre-Hispanic history.
Muslims resisted Spanish colonization having established sultanates and trade zones.
The 1898 Treaty of Paris was the turning point where Mindanao was ceded by Spain to the United States said to be an “illegal annexation and exploitation without referendum, plebiscite or consent of the people (of Mindanao).”
Human rights groups say a number of Muslims in the country at present have suffered intensive discrimination, illegal arrests and other forms of human rights violations after having to migrate up North due to unemployment in the South because of having been alleged to have links to terrorist activities.
Kilos-protesta inilunsad sa Cotabato City laban sa pormal na pagsisimula ng Balikatan Exercise sa Central Mindanao.
Inilunsad ang isang kilos protesta pasado alas-nueve kaninang umaga dito sa Cotabato City. Ito�y nilahukan ng iba�t-ibang progresibong grupo ng lungsod. Nagsimula ang march rally sa Cotabato State Polytechnic College hanggang Cotabato City Plaza kung saan nagtipon-tipon ang lahat. May kaugnayan ang kilos-protesta sa pormal na pagsisimula ng humanitarian mission bilang bahagi ng Balikatan Exercise 2008 dito sa bahagi ng Central Mindanao kabilang ang Pikit at Midsayap sa North Cotabato. Ayon kay Bobby Benito ng Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace, tutol sila sa hakbang ng American Government hinggil sa Balikatan Exercise,aniya pwedeng magpaabot ng tulong ang US Government sa pamamagitan ng ahensya kagaya ng US-AID at hindi ng mga sundalong amerikano dahil naniniwala silang ito�y posibleng magdulot ng mas kapahamakan sa mga Bangsamoro Land
Bombo Radyo Philippines Forum
Bombo Radyo Philippines Forum
Probe Media Foundation Children and Disaster- Radio Report
Children and Disaster: Philippine Media Response - is a fellowship for Filipino Broadcasters. In their opening workshop this October 25 to 27, groups created radio and TV reports on children and disaster issues.
This radio report is located in Road 10 or R 10, a squatter community in Navotas that is facing demolition. The report was created by Jeffrey Mendez of DXMS-Cotabato and Alejandro Saludo of DXKI-South Cotabao and Bobby Benito of Bitiala Kalilintad-Cotabato.
The program is conducted by Probe Media Foundation and supported by UNICEF.
This radio report is located in Road 10 or R 10, a squatter community in Navotas that is facing demolition. The report was created by Jeffrey Mendez of DXMS-Cotabato and Alejandro Saludo of DXKI-South Cotabao and Bobby Benito of Bitiala Kalilintad-Cotabato.
The program is conducted by Probe Media Foundation and supported by UNICEF.
Thousands call on UN to prevent massive war in Philippines
More than 100,000 people took to the streets of key cities in the Philippines to call the attention of the United Nations to prevent another massive war to take place in the country after the peace talks between the government and the country’s largest Muslim separatist rebel group have been derailed.
In unprecedented moves uniting civilians, Church sector, and rebel groups sympathizers, the peace rallies were held in the cities of Manila, Cotabato, Marawi, General Santos, and Iligan as part of a series of mass actions organized by a network of 164 civil society organizations of mostly Muslims, to break the most serious impasse to stall the peace talks between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) since negotiations started in 1997. Rallies in other areas are now being prepared, organizers said.
Hundreds of children from different Islamic schools (madrasah) in Taguig, Manila wore green bands (color of Islam) and waved flags, calling for peace in Mindanao in Islamic New Year celebrations (Amun Jadeed) last January 19.
Thousands of people from different non-government and people’s organizations gathered in Cotabato city plaza and called on the attention of the international community to press the Philippine government and the MILF into resuming their talks and eventually signing a peace agreement.
In Iligan, a convoy of vehicles and thousands of demonstrators called upon President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to immediately resolve the problem.
In Marawi, civilians wore red shirts and bands, and raised flags with the word, Allahu Akbar (Allah is Great), urging the government and MILF to resume their stalled peace talks.
In General Santos, people filled the public plaza and expressed dismay and fears over possible impacts of the stalemate.
Talks between the government of the predominantly Catholic country and the MILF hit a snag last December over disagreements on the coverage of ancestral domain and constitutional process, two highly controversial and critical subjects in the talks.
Secretary Jesus Dureza, the presidential adviser on the peace process, assessed the impasse as “among the most serious to stall the rocky talks, a big hump” upon which the GRP has no “magic formula” while “looking for a way out”.
The MILF negotiating panel refused to meet its government counterpart during the 15th exploratory talks last December 15 to 17 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because the government draft of a proposed memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain supposedly did not contain certain consensus points earlier agreed by the two parties.
The government negotiating panel recently inserted a provision which states that the implementation of the agreement will have to follow “constitutional process.”
Situations have been aggravated by recent statements from some of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s key officials threatening the MILF with sanctions.
Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno Puno said government should not give in to the MILF’s demand for a “juridical entity” without a plebiscite, while AFP Vice Chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Romero stated that peace talks will not continue without MILF’s disarmament.
Since all-out war was declared by former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada in 2000, negotiations progressed because of mutual agreement that government should not refer to Constitution and the MILF would not demand independence.
The setting up of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) was agreed upon by government and MILF negotiators during exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur last year.
Field army personnel and MILF are now on full alert for any movements from opposing sides in conflict-affected areas in the disputed island of Mindanao.
Foreign observers from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and donor community have expressed concern on the instability in the peace process.
More than 100,000 people have already died because of the decades-long armed conflicts in the country.
Civil society organizations called on the international community to help push the peace process forward and to exert pressures to the parties to honor and abide by whatever commitments they have made in the course of their negotiations.
“People aired their resentments against war, letting the world know that they hate war,” said Guiamel Alim, chair of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS), the lead convener-organizer of the peace rallies.
“The jubilation was short-lived, dreams were shattered,” said Alim who noted that pronouncements of both parties in the past months were optimistic. “It made a lot of people frustrated but many still keep hoping.”
”President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, you are an Iliganon, give us the justice we long for! We have suffered enough!” said Bai Lilang Macarampat, a women representative from Lanao Del Sur, as she recollected that Mrs. Arroyo’s maternal parents are from Iligan.
The signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain that would have paved the way for a comprehensive peace agreement between the government and the MILF, said Bobby Benito of Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace in the Philippines. “It would have been a recompense for the 10-year long negotiation between the MILF and the GRP that commenced in July of 1997.”
Benito urged the government to pursue peace talks with the MILF by abiding with consensus points agreed upon by both parties.
“The current status of the peace process in Mindanao is fast changing and reshaping the future of the Mindanaoans especially the civil society that comprises the greater majority in the grassroots,” Benito said.
Benito said there is no doubt that the failure of peace talks will lead to violence, chaos and war. “But the people are tired of war. It is anti-people and violates the very core values of all religions and civil society: love, peace, nonviolence.”
“We, in the civil society are aware of the fact that majority of people in the grassroots desire for a meaningful result of the peace process, not only to put an end to the ravages of war, but to address the longstanding political problem in a non-violent way,” Benito said.
“The consequences of war in Mindanao have been very painful and costly. More than 150,000 people died and 100,000 were estimated to be injured. Millions were displaced from their homes and several hundred thousands, including more than 200,000 people who sought refuge in the Malaysian State of Sabah have not returned home,” said Abdullah Dalidig, of the Islamic Movement for Electoral Reform and Good Governance (IMERGG) and Muslim Multi-sectoral Movement for Peace and Development (MMMPD).
Demonstrators in Iligan assailed Puno as “the same enemy of peace who has also pushed the Estrada administration into all-out-war 2000.” Caricatures of Puno holding M-16 carried by the demonstrators.
“What does Puno know regarding Mindanao? We, the Mindanawons are to determine our own future,” said Cha Lavandero of youth leaders organization Duyog Kabataan.
“(The mass actions) intend to prevent possible conflict and to show to the parties that the Bangsamoro (Muslims) is in solidarity with the Christians and the Lumads” said Dalidig.
“If these acts are not enough to catch the attention of the government, the Interfaith CSOs (civil society organizations) will organize the walk for peace from Marawi City to Malacañang Palace to show to the government that we are indeed very serious in our fervor to attain just and lasting peace in Mindanao,” Dalidig added.
“We are one with the Bangsamoro in the call for lasting peace. After all only those who declared war win; we are all victims,” said Fr. Chito Sugano of the Marawi Catholic church. “The Bangsamoro homeland, our bread and butter are happily utilized as battlegrounds, leaving its inhabitants with dime of hope.”
Atty. Ibrahim Canama of the Federated Royal Sultanate of the Philippines said the sultanates of Mindanao appeal to the MILF “to return to the negotiating table” and for the government “to be sincere in dealing with the Peace processes, from the course of the negotiation to the implementation of the agreements to be signed.”
“Our people cannot afford to live in fear,” Canama said.
“How many more lives do we need to sacrifice? The consensus points were gained at the expense of the lives of the countless Bangsamoro who died fighting for it,” said Abulkhair Alibasa, an academe youth representative.
“We strongly condemn war, displacements and the long hardship of the Bangsamoro!” shouted Ma. Jittel Saquilabon, the executive director of the Tri-People’s Forum.
“Give the Bangsamoro their right to self-determination! We do not want to lose our parents because of war!” said Lavandero.
“The Bangsamoro have suffered for 469 years, so give us back the justice that was taken from us!” shouted Mohammad Tamano of the Iligan League of Students.
Tamano said that the “Bangsamoro have suffered from the invasion of Spain in 1521 that lasted for 377 years, the American colonization of 40 years, and the Philippine colonialism of 52 years already.”
General Santos-based Pastor Frank Bantilan said that the indigenous people of Mindanao have been distressed by the sudden impasse of the peace talks. “Muslims and Lumads (indigenous people) are more than brothers, we feel no different pain.”
Benito said the “civil society in Mindanao urgently appeal” for “swift and more carefully review the implementation of the GRP-MNLF 1996 peace accord so that gaps are identified, corrective measures are installed, and implementation scheme put into place;” “for the immediate resumption of the GRP-MILF peace talks and for the Government to honor its commitment to the consensus points;” and “for the GRP and the MILF to refrain from any unnecessary actions that may jeopardize the peace talks.”
“But the stance of the government in nonconforming to the agreed consensus points is a clear manifestation of its feebleness to bestow strong political will for the realization of the peace accord,” Benito argued.
The signing of the MOA on the ancestral domain issue “could have been the best Christmas gift for the Filipinos and a memorable reward for the Muslims in their celebration of Eid Al-Adha this year,” the civil society organizations (CSOs) that participated in the rallies said in a manifesto.
The CSOs also appealed to both parties to refrain from any unnecessary actions that may jeopardize the peace talks. “It would now be an acid test for CSOs to stay on guard to prevent violence from taking place and to bring back the parties into dialogue to discuss contentious issues,” said Alim.
They also raised questions of possibilities to find “a creative and acceptable means of pursuing the implementation of the consensus points without violating the constitution.”
“Veering away and watering down the consensus points and invoking the constitutional process as a means to pursue a political agreement is tantamount to a betrayal of a “gentlemen’s agreement” and lack of sincerity on the part of the government to find peace in Mindanao.”
“We, in the civil society are aware of the fact that majority of people in the grassroots desire for a meaningful result of the peace process, not only to put an end to the ravages of war, but to address the longstanding political problem in a non-violent way,” Benito said.
There is no doubt that the failure of peace talks will lead to violence, chaos and war, the CSOs stated. “But the people are tired of war. It is anti-people and violates the very core values of all religions and civil society: love, peace, nonviolence.”
In September 1996, the Philippine government also signed a peace agreement with another Muslim rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), from which the MILF broke away in 1981.
Benito noted that the issues confronting the implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the government and the MNLF has further made the situation in Mindanao “fluid and volatile.”
More than a decade after the signed pact, the MNLF and other critics have relentlessly accused the Philippine government of lack of sincerity, honesty and political will in fully implementing the agreement and in working for attainment of peace in Mindanao.
Last June 2007, Silvestre Afable, the government chief negotiator in the talks with the MILF resigned, saying he did not enjoy the full confidence of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He was replaced by Rodolfo Garcia, a retired general and former Armed Forces vice chief of staff.
The armed struggle of the Muslims in the Philippines can be traced back in history. Mindanao is the birthplace of Islam in the country.
Bangsamoro (Moroland) refers to the homeland of the Moro, the indigenous peoples in Southern Philippines.
The term comes from the Malay word “bangsa,” meaning nation or people, and the Spanish word “moro,” from the older Spanish word “Moor,” the Reconquista-period term for Arabs or Muslims.
It may also refer to the Moro people, in general.
Bangsamoro covers the provinces of Basilan, Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Palawan, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga Sibugay; and the cities of Cotabato, General Santos, Iligan, Marawi, Pagadian, Puerto Princesa, and Zamboanga.
Other interpretations may include territories that use to form North Borneo including Sabah, Labuan and the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan in modern Malaysia.
Bangsamoro was originally home to sovereign sultanates of Mindanao (such as Maguindanao and Sulu), which resisted Spanish colonial rule.
But in 1898 Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded the Philippine archipelago to the United States, including the Bangsamoro. Later, the Philippine republic was formed.
There had been a request from the Bangsamoro to exclude their homeland in the formation of the Philippine republic and to remain it instead under American control. This was denied.
Bangsamoro groups assail inclusion of Mindanao in the formation of the Philippine republic during the post-American colonization period as “illegal annexation and exploitation without referendum, plebiscite or consent of the Moro people, thus, a blatant violation of their fundamental rights.”
Majority of the Bangsamoro people are Muslims. The Islamized Bangsamoro ethno-linguistic groups are indigenous peoples converted to Islam by Arab merchants during the country’s pre-Hispanic history.
Human rights groups say a number of Muslims in the country at present have suffered intensive discrimination, illegal arrests and other forms of human rights violations because of having been alleged to have link to terrorist activities.
“The failure of peace agreements in the past can be attributed mainly to the non-participation of the Bangsamoro people, because non-participation means they do not own a peace agreement. As real stakeholders, their collective voice should be basis of authority and the last word in the solution of the problem,” Dalidig said.
The Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) considers the Ancestral Domain agenda in the GRP-MILF peace talks as an “opportunity for Mindanawons to revisit our colonial past and correct the historical injustices committed against the indigenous and Bangsamoro peoples in Mindanao.”
“The peaceful lives of the Bangsamoro were shattered by the tremors brought about by the coming of the colonizers” said Sammy Maulana, CBCS secretary-general. “We are not begging anything from the Government, we just want to regain our homeland and restore our inalienable rights to self determination, both as people and a nation”.
(January 25, 2008)
In unprecedented moves uniting civilians, Church sector, and rebel groups sympathizers, the peace rallies were held in the cities of Manila, Cotabato, Marawi, General Santos, and Iligan as part of a series of mass actions organized by a network of 164 civil society organizations of mostly Muslims, to break the most serious impasse to stall the peace talks between government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) since negotiations started in 1997. Rallies in other areas are now being prepared, organizers said.
Hundreds of children from different Islamic schools (madrasah) in Taguig, Manila wore green bands (color of Islam) and waved flags, calling for peace in Mindanao in Islamic New Year celebrations (Amun Jadeed) last January 19.
Thousands of people from different non-government and people’s organizations gathered in Cotabato city plaza and called on the attention of the international community to press the Philippine government and the MILF into resuming their talks and eventually signing a peace agreement.
In Iligan, a convoy of vehicles and thousands of demonstrators called upon President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to immediately resolve the problem.
In Marawi, civilians wore red shirts and bands, and raised flags with the word, Allahu Akbar (Allah is Great), urging the government and MILF to resume their stalled peace talks.
In General Santos, people filled the public plaza and expressed dismay and fears over possible impacts of the stalemate.
Talks between the government of the predominantly Catholic country and the MILF hit a snag last December over disagreements on the coverage of ancestral domain and constitutional process, two highly controversial and critical subjects in the talks.
Secretary Jesus Dureza, the presidential adviser on the peace process, assessed the impasse as “among the most serious to stall the rocky talks, a big hump” upon which the GRP has no “magic formula” while “looking for a way out”.
The MILF negotiating panel refused to meet its government counterpart during the 15th exploratory talks last December 15 to 17 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia because the government draft of a proposed memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain supposedly did not contain certain consensus points earlier agreed by the two parties.
The government negotiating panel recently inserted a provision which states that the implementation of the agreement will have to follow “constitutional process.”
Situations have been aggravated by recent statements from some of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s key officials threatening the MILF with sanctions.
Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno Puno said government should not give in to the MILF’s demand for a “juridical entity” without a plebiscite, while AFP Vice Chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Romero stated that peace talks will not continue without MILF’s disarmament.
Since all-out war was declared by former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada in 2000, negotiations progressed because of mutual agreement that government should not refer to Constitution and the MILF would not demand independence.
The setting up of a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE) was agreed upon by government and MILF negotiators during exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur last year.
Field army personnel and MILF are now on full alert for any movements from opposing sides in conflict-affected areas in the disputed island of Mindanao.
Foreign observers from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and donor community have expressed concern on the instability in the peace process.
More than 100,000 people have already died because of the decades-long armed conflicts in the country.
Civil society organizations called on the international community to help push the peace process forward and to exert pressures to the parties to honor and abide by whatever commitments they have made in the course of their negotiations.
“People aired their resentments against war, letting the world know that they hate war,” said Guiamel Alim, chair of the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS), the lead convener-organizer of the peace rallies.
“The jubilation was short-lived, dreams were shattered,” said Alim who noted that pronouncements of both parties in the past months were optimistic. “It made a lot of people frustrated but many still keep hoping.”
”President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, you are an Iliganon, give us the justice we long for! We have suffered enough!” said Bai Lilang Macarampat, a women representative from Lanao Del Sur, as she recollected that Mrs. Arroyo’s maternal parents are from Iligan.
The signing of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain that would have paved the way for a comprehensive peace agreement between the government and the MILF, said Bobby Benito of Bangsamoro Center for Just Peace in the Philippines. “It would have been a recompense for the 10-year long negotiation between the MILF and the GRP that commenced in July of 1997.”
Benito urged the government to pursue peace talks with the MILF by abiding with consensus points agreed upon by both parties.
“The current status of the peace process in Mindanao is fast changing and reshaping the future of the Mindanaoans especially the civil society that comprises the greater majority in the grassroots,” Benito said.
Benito said there is no doubt that the failure of peace talks will lead to violence, chaos and war. “But the people are tired of war. It is anti-people and violates the very core values of all religions and civil society: love, peace, nonviolence.”
“We, in the civil society are aware of the fact that majority of people in the grassroots desire for a meaningful result of the peace process, not only to put an end to the ravages of war, but to address the longstanding political problem in a non-violent way,” Benito said.
“The consequences of war in Mindanao have been very painful and costly. More than 150,000 people died and 100,000 were estimated to be injured. Millions were displaced from their homes and several hundred thousands, including more than 200,000 people who sought refuge in the Malaysian State of Sabah have not returned home,” said Abdullah Dalidig, of the Islamic Movement for Electoral Reform and Good Governance (IMERGG) and Muslim Multi-sectoral Movement for Peace and Development (MMMPD).
Demonstrators in Iligan assailed Puno as “the same enemy of peace who has also pushed the Estrada administration into all-out-war 2000.” Caricatures of Puno holding M-16 carried by the demonstrators.
“What does Puno know regarding Mindanao? We, the Mindanawons are to determine our own future,” said Cha Lavandero of youth leaders organization Duyog Kabataan.
“(The mass actions) intend to prevent possible conflict and to show to the parties that the Bangsamoro (Muslims) is in solidarity with the Christians and the Lumads” said Dalidig.
“If these acts are not enough to catch the attention of the government, the Interfaith CSOs (civil society organizations) will organize the walk for peace from Marawi City to Malacañang Palace to show to the government that we are indeed very serious in our fervor to attain just and lasting peace in Mindanao,” Dalidig added.
“We are one with the Bangsamoro in the call for lasting peace. After all only those who declared war win; we are all victims,” said Fr. Chito Sugano of the Marawi Catholic church. “The Bangsamoro homeland, our bread and butter are happily utilized as battlegrounds, leaving its inhabitants with dime of hope.”
Atty. Ibrahim Canama of the Federated Royal Sultanate of the Philippines said the sultanates of Mindanao appeal to the MILF “to return to the negotiating table” and for the government “to be sincere in dealing with the Peace processes, from the course of the negotiation to the implementation of the agreements to be signed.”
“Our people cannot afford to live in fear,” Canama said.
“How many more lives do we need to sacrifice? The consensus points were gained at the expense of the lives of the countless Bangsamoro who died fighting for it,” said Abulkhair Alibasa, an academe youth representative.
“We strongly condemn war, displacements and the long hardship of the Bangsamoro!” shouted Ma. Jittel Saquilabon, the executive director of the Tri-People’s Forum.
“Give the Bangsamoro their right to self-determination! We do not want to lose our parents because of war!” said Lavandero.
“The Bangsamoro have suffered for 469 years, so give us back the justice that was taken from us!” shouted Mohammad Tamano of the Iligan League of Students.
Tamano said that the “Bangsamoro have suffered from the invasion of Spain in 1521 that lasted for 377 years, the American colonization of 40 years, and the Philippine colonialism of 52 years already.”
General Santos-based Pastor Frank Bantilan said that the indigenous people of Mindanao have been distressed by the sudden impasse of the peace talks. “Muslims and Lumads (indigenous people) are more than brothers, we feel no different pain.”
Benito said the “civil society in Mindanao urgently appeal” for “swift and more carefully review the implementation of the GRP-MNLF 1996 peace accord so that gaps are identified, corrective measures are installed, and implementation scheme put into place;” “for the immediate resumption of the GRP-MILF peace talks and for the Government to honor its commitment to the consensus points;” and “for the GRP and the MILF to refrain from any unnecessary actions that may jeopardize the peace talks.”
“But the stance of the government in nonconforming to the agreed consensus points is a clear manifestation of its feebleness to bestow strong political will for the realization of the peace accord,” Benito argued.
The signing of the MOA on the ancestral domain issue “could have been the best Christmas gift for the Filipinos and a memorable reward for the Muslims in their celebration of Eid Al-Adha this year,” the civil society organizations (CSOs) that participated in the rallies said in a manifesto.
The CSOs also appealed to both parties to refrain from any unnecessary actions that may jeopardize the peace talks. “It would now be an acid test for CSOs to stay on guard to prevent violence from taking place and to bring back the parties into dialogue to discuss contentious issues,” said Alim.
They also raised questions of possibilities to find “a creative and acceptable means of pursuing the implementation of the consensus points without violating the constitution.”
“Veering away and watering down the consensus points and invoking the constitutional process as a means to pursue a political agreement is tantamount to a betrayal of a “gentlemen’s agreement” and lack of sincerity on the part of the government to find peace in Mindanao.”
“We, in the civil society are aware of the fact that majority of people in the grassroots desire for a meaningful result of the peace process, not only to put an end to the ravages of war, but to address the longstanding political problem in a non-violent way,” Benito said.
There is no doubt that the failure of peace talks will lead to violence, chaos and war, the CSOs stated. “But the people are tired of war. It is anti-people and violates the very core values of all religions and civil society: love, peace, nonviolence.”
In September 1996, the Philippine government also signed a peace agreement with another Muslim rebel group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), from which the MILF broke away in 1981.
Benito noted that the issues confronting the implementation of the 1996 Final Peace Agreement between the government and the MNLF has further made the situation in Mindanao “fluid and volatile.”
More than a decade after the signed pact, the MNLF and other critics have relentlessly accused the Philippine government of lack of sincerity, honesty and political will in fully implementing the agreement and in working for attainment of peace in Mindanao.
Last June 2007, Silvestre Afable, the government chief negotiator in the talks with the MILF resigned, saying he did not enjoy the full confidence of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He was replaced by Rodolfo Garcia, a retired general and former Armed Forces vice chief of staff.
The armed struggle of the Muslims in the Philippines can be traced back in history. Mindanao is the birthplace of Islam in the country.
Bangsamoro (Moroland) refers to the homeland of the Moro, the indigenous peoples in Southern Philippines.
The term comes from the Malay word “bangsa,” meaning nation or people, and the Spanish word “moro,” from the older Spanish word “Moor,” the Reconquista-period term for Arabs or Muslims.
It may also refer to the Moro people, in general.
Bangsamoro covers the provinces of Basilan, Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Palawan, Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga Sibugay; and the cities of Cotabato, General Santos, Iligan, Marawi, Pagadian, Puerto Princesa, and Zamboanga.
Other interpretations may include territories that use to form North Borneo including Sabah, Labuan and the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan in modern Malaysia.
Bangsamoro was originally home to sovereign sultanates of Mindanao (such as Maguindanao and Sulu), which resisted Spanish colonial rule.
But in 1898 Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded the Philippine archipelago to the United States, including the Bangsamoro. Later, the Philippine republic was formed.
There had been a request from the Bangsamoro to exclude their homeland in the formation of the Philippine republic and to remain it instead under American control. This was denied.
Bangsamoro groups assail inclusion of Mindanao in the formation of the Philippine republic during the post-American colonization period as “illegal annexation and exploitation without referendum, plebiscite or consent of the Moro people, thus, a blatant violation of their fundamental rights.”
Majority of the Bangsamoro people are Muslims. The Islamized Bangsamoro ethno-linguistic groups are indigenous peoples converted to Islam by Arab merchants during the country’s pre-Hispanic history.
Human rights groups say a number of Muslims in the country at present have suffered intensive discrimination, illegal arrests and other forms of human rights violations because of having been alleged to have link to terrorist activities.
“The failure of peace agreements in the past can be attributed mainly to the non-participation of the Bangsamoro people, because non-participation means they do not own a peace agreement. As real stakeholders, their collective voice should be basis of authority and the last word in the solution of the problem,” Dalidig said.
The Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) considers the Ancestral Domain agenda in the GRP-MILF peace talks as an “opportunity for Mindanawons to revisit our colonial past and correct the historical injustices committed against the indigenous and Bangsamoro peoples in Mindanao.”
“The peaceful lives of the Bangsamoro were shattered by the tremors brought about by the coming of the colonizers” said Sammy Maulana, CBCS secretary-general. “We are not begging anything from the Government, we just want to regain our homeland and restore our inalienable rights to self determination, both as people and a nation”.
(January 25, 2008)
Bangsamoros hold rallies in many parts of Mindanao to demand immediate resumption of GRP-MILF peace talks
Jun 29, '08 6:57 AM
for everyone
source: http://zamboangasouthwall.blogspot.com/
Thousands of Bangsamoros held simultaneous rallies in various parts of Mindanao on Saturday and called for immediate resumption of peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Dubbed as "Mass Rally for Peace," they called the government to respect and sign with sincerity the previously agreed consensus points on ancestral domain and to cancel the August 11 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao elections.
The rallyists led by the Mindanao Alliance for Peace (MAP) flocked in the main plazas of the cities of Cotabato, Tacurong, General Santos, Isabela, Basilan, Pagadian, and the municipalities of Jolo, Sulu, and Pikit in North Cotabato.
They criticized Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat for rejecting their application for a permit to hold a peace rally in the city.
Zamboanga was a former Muslim province and part of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, but many of its original inhabitants were forced out by Christian settlers.
The rallyists also said government troops prevented about a thousand colleagues on board six trucks from going to General Santos City from North Cotabato.
Bobby Benito, MAP spokesman, said they also urged to maintain and sustain the ceasefire as a vehicle leading to ink the long awaited final and meaningful agreement between the MILF and the Philippine government.
During the rally in Cotabato City that was attended by representatives from the MNLF, indigenous peoples, and Bangsamoro women group, the alliance issued a manifesto calling the GRP and the MILF to immediately resume the peace negotiations.
The manifesto calls on both parties to honor the consensus points on ancestral domain that they have already agreed upon. They see the immediate resumption of the peace talks as the only way to stop the war that may break out once again.
Peace talks between the Philippine government and the MILF were stalled since last year over the issue of the ancestral domain, which the moro rebels have been demanding from the Arroyo regime.
The alliance for peace further calls on the government to defer the election in the ARMM, describing the upcoming regional polls in the autonomous region as a hindrance in the GRP-MILF peace talks.
"Clearly holding the ARMM elections is a sign that the government is not sincere it its peace negotiations with the MILF. We will all be the victims when war erupts," the group said.
"We call on every Bangsamoro people and on every peace-loving individual for that matter to unite with us and let our voices be heard and we want peace now for we have been suffering the war for so long."
"Finally, we support, respect and uphold the legitimate struggle of the Bangsamor people for freedom and the right to self determination," the group concluded.
for everyone
source: http://zamboangasouthwall.blogspot.com/
Thousands of Bangsamoros held simultaneous rallies in various parts of Mindanao on Saturday and called for immediate resumption of peace talks between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Dubbed as "Mass Rally for Peace," they called the government to respect and sign with sincerity the previously agreed consensus points on ancestral domain and to cancel the August 11 Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao elections.
The rallyists led by the Mindanao Alliance for Peace (MAP) flocked in the main plazas of the cities of Cotabato, Tacurong, General Santos, Isabela, Basilan, Pagadian, and the municipalities of Jolo, Sulu, and Pikit in North Cotabato.
They criticized Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat for rejecting their application for a permit to hold a peace rally in the city.
Zamboanga was a former Muslim province and part of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo, but many of its original inhabitants were forced out by Christian settlers.
The rallyists also said government troops prevented about a thousand colleagues on board six trucks from going to General Santos City from North Cotabato.
Bobby Benito, MAP spokesman, said they also urged to maintain and sustain the ceasefire as a vehicle leading to ink the long awaited final and meaningful agreement between the MILF and the Philippine government.
During the rally in Cotabato City that was attended by representatives from the MNLF, indigenous peoples, and Bangsamoro women group, the alliance issued a manifesto calling the GRP and the MILF to immediately resume the peace negotiations.
The manifesto calls on both parties to honor the consensus points on ancestral domain that they have already agreed upon. They see the immediate resumption of the peace talks as the only way to stop the war that may break out once again.
Peace talks between the Philippine government and the MILF were stalled since last year over the issue of the ancestral domain, which the moro rebels have been demanding from the Arroyo regime.
The alliance for peace further calls on the government to defer the election in the ARMM, describing the upcoming regional polls in the autonomous region as a hindrance in the GRP-MILF peace talks.
"Clearly holding the ARMM elections is a sign that the government is not sincere it its peace negotiations with the MILF. We will all be the victims when war erupts," the group said.
"We call on every Bangsamoro people and on every peace-loving individual for that matter to unite with us and let our voices be heard and we want peace now for we have been suffering the war for so long."
"Finally, we support, respect and uphold the legitimate struggle of the Bangsamor people for freedom and the right to self determination," the group concluded.
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