RP's Muslims fight for 'usurped' homeland

RP's Muslims fight for 'usurped' homeland

By Girlie Linao

MANILA (DPA): A marine proudly waved the Philippine flag,
while other jubilant troops gathered for a photo in front of a
bombed-out mosque after capturing a key camp of separatist rebels
in the southern Philippines.

Military officials quickly apologized for the mosque's
destruction and lamented the incident was an "unintended and
unfortunate consequence" of the continuing offensive against the
secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado ordered the reconstruction
of the mosque in Camp Bushra, the MILF's second-largest training
base, "to prove that Muslims are not our enemies but our
friends".

"We are going to bind wounds," Mercado said.

But analysts warned it would take more than rebuilding a
destroyed mosque to heal the wounds of more than three decades of
a violent struggle waged by mujahideens, or freedom fighters for
an independent Islamic homeland.

They also cautioned the government against pursuing the
military blitzkrieg in the southern region of Mindanao, warning
the approach will only bring about "periods of relative peace,
but things will irreversibly end up in an unending war of
attrition."

"You can kill all the mujahideens, but you can't kill the
cause," one Islamic scholar said. "A new generation of fighters
will always take their place and the conflict will last for
generations and generations to come until the Muslims are freed."

But the Philippine government does not recognize the Muslims'
belief that the national government colonized their land and
usurped their freedom, resulting in years of deprivation, neglect
and abuse, grinding poverty and rampant discrimination.

Once the dominant ethnic group in Mindanao, Muslims now only
own 17 percent of the total land in the area due to the intrusion
of Christian settlers from northern and central Philippines. They
are also among the poorest in the predominantly Catholic country.

In 1994, poverty incidence in Mindanao was 44 percent,
compared with 24 percent in the northern region of Luzon and 38
percent in the central region of Visayas. Average literacy rate
was 88 percent, compared with 95 percent in Luzon.

President Joseph Estrada has vowed to fix the disparity and
turn Mindanao into what is it often called -- the land of
promise. But he stressed economic progress and social development
can only take place after peace is ensured.

Three months after the MILF and the government opened formal
peace talks in January, the military launched a large-scale
assault in a bid to contain the rebels in a single area -- Camp
Abubakar, the group's main headquarters covering 300,000
hectares.

More than 20 key and satellite camps have already been
captured, including Camp Bushra, in the fighting described as the
worst in years. More than 400 people have been killed and at
least 300,000 displaced in the hostilities.

Estrada has ignored mounting calls for him to declare a cease-
fire, saying he would only order a halt in the offensive if the
15,000-strong MILF gives up its bid for independence.

While the MILF has agreed to study a proposal that would grant
them autonomy, there is no guarantee the settlement would be
accepted. Estrada has given the rebels until June 30 to make up
their minds.

The MILF has been fighting for a separate Islamic state since
1978 when it split from the rival Moro National Liberation Front
(MNLF), which signed a landmark peace agreement with the
Philippine government in 1996.

MILF Chairman Salamat Hashim revealed in a 1999 interview that
the split "was a tactical move" to ensure that if the MNLF
failed, "we stay behind to continue the struggle for our rights."

"What we want is for the Philippine government to give way to
the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people to regain their freedom
and self-determination, which were illegally and immorally
usurped," Salamat said.

"Almost all people in the world now are free," he added. "It
is only the Bangsamoro people who are not free until now."

One year after the MNLF was granted self-rule under the four-
province Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, many former MNLF
fighters were so disgruntled over the peace pact's failure to
uplift their lives and defected to the MILF.

Others joined the extremists Abu Sayyaf group, now holding 21
Western and Asian hostages in the jungles of Jolo island, Sulu
province, the MNLF's former stronghold.

The government has refused to open peace talks with the Abu
Sayyaf, or "Bearer of the Sword", arguing the group is nothing
but a rag-tag gang of bandits engaged in kidnapping-for-ransom,
extortion and other criminal activities.

The Abu Sayyaf, however, insists it is continuing the MNLF's
struggle. Its leaders defend their terrorist activities as
"instruments in our jihad (holy war) for an independent Islamic
state".

Hamasali Jawali, president of the Sulu State College, warned
the conflict can only be resolved if the Muslims "are given
freely the Islamic state where the Koran is the basis for
fundamental law."

"The problem in Mindanao is ideology that is rooted in
history," he said. "The solution to the problem is the
establishment of an experimental state under the Republic of the
Philippines where the Koran is the state mandate."

Amid the escalating costs of the conflict, which has
threatened to drag down the national economy, some legislators
have proposed a shift to a federal form of government to give way
to the Muslims' desire for separation.

Others lawmakers, however, believe tackling poverty and
underdevelopment would be the better approach.

Senator Loren Legarda has proposed a Marshall Plan worth 101.8
billion pesos (US$2.42 billion) to rehabilitate Mindanao in the
next four years. The Marshall Plan was launched by the United
States after World War II to revive the economies of Western
Europe.

"It is apparent that a few billions spread over several years
will have little or no meaningful impact in lifting Muslim
Mindanao from decades of poverty and neglect," said Legarda,
chairman of the Senate committee on economic affairs.

"What Muslim Mindanao needs is a massive infusion of several
billion pesos worth of development funds over a short period,"
she said.