Mindanao rebels -- fighters or terrorists?

Under The Crescent Moon: Rebellion In Mindanao By Marites Danguilan Vitug & Glenda M. Gloria Ateneo Center for Social Policy and Public Affairs & Institute for Popular Democracy, Quezon City, the Philippines 2000 344 pages 300 Philippine pesos

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The release of Under The Crescent Moon: Rebellion In Mindanao just as the Abu Sayyaf was escorting its latest group of foreign hostages into its lair may have seemed to be fantastic timing.

But as the book itself clearly shows, the Muslim Filipino disquiet has long been in existence. What has been sorely lacking was a close scrutiny of why it has been so and the issues involved, as well as a sober discussion on what could be done.

The book, written by Philippines Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) cofounder Marites Danguilan Vitug and Glenda M. Gloria, tries to do all three and in general the effort is successful. Indeed, the work is probably one of the best attempts at documenting the rebellion (and terrorism) in Mindanao, and even unearths historical details that few Filipinos know about.

It traces the rebellion from the infamous Jabiddah Massacre of March 18, 1968, an event that gave birth to the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), from which a faction that was to become the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) later broke away. The book also devotes much space to the tiny group that is now attracting the most attention: the terrorist Abu Sayyaf, which had its beginnings in the early 1990s. Its young founder, the late Abdurajak Janjalani, openly questioned Misuari's leadership while studying in Libya. He did not stop here, and would turn extremely anti-Christian as well.

Among the more interesting discussions in the book is the authors' argument that in searching for a revolutionary model suitable for the Muslim Filipino experience would-be MNLF founder Nur Misuari came across the Palestinian experience. Like Muslim Filipinos, Palestinians were also in search of a "lost identity" and fighting for territory based on historic rights. To Vitug and Gloria, this partly explains why Muslim Filipinos have stronger ties with Arab Muslims than with Muslims in neighboring Asian countries.

The book also shows that while MNLF based its struggle on the Palestinian model, the war being waged by the MILF against the government is inspired by the U.S. -backed Afghan mujahideen experience -- and to a certain point, even the current Chechen war against Russia.

The "MILF story" could have stood more detail and perhaps additional input from observers and experts, especially once the MILF begin telling of its supposed clandestine role in the Afghan conflict.

As for the Abu Sayyaf, the information obtained by the authors about the group could probably help Manila's fight against terrorism. That is if Malacanang opted to see the problem independently from that of U.S. war strategies and their Filipinos disciples who insist on using the lens of "internal terrorism". Military tacticians, for example, insist the Abu Sayyaf is a product of Islamic extremism from Iranian Shiite school of thought.

Both the MILF and Abu Sayyaf consider Khalid Bin Walid, a 7th century hero among the majority Sunni Muslims but considered a villain by the Shiites, as their model of Islamic leadership. In the Malaysian International Islamic University, references to Bin Walid are banned, apparently to discourage the creation of a following.

For those who are wondering if Mindanao will always be at war, Under The Crescent Moon's documentation of the peace process initiated by the administration of former president Fidel Ramos with the MNLF offers a peace packaging model that could be useful in efforts for a peace settlement with even non-Muslim insurgent groups. Indeed, Vitug and Gloria say that instead of concentrating on a military strategy, those serious about peace can well explore how poverty can be alleviated if not eradicated. After all, more often than not, it is economic hardship rather than ideology that drives common folk to take up arms.

Investing more in education than in military hardware in Mindanao could be made part of the solution to the conflict. Officials can look at the example set by Malaysia, where premier Mahathir Mohammad responded to surging Islamic revivalism by "bureaucratizing religious authority".

But part of the problem in the Philippines is that even those who go to Islamic schools abroad often come home without specialization in a particular field, including religion and history, says Cotabato City-based Muslim scholar Mohammad Sulaiman. As a result, the Dharul Ifta (House of Opinion) in Cotabato City is headed by someone who took up astronomy. In all probability, this crisis in Arabic education contributes to the thinking that options for Muslim Filipinos are limited, thereby paving the way for the rise of local religious advocates of jihad al kital (armed struggle).

-- Joko Subanarto

The reviewer is a researcher at Lembaga Studi SOVRANITA Indonesia in Yogyakarta.