The Moro came to the limelight again after their autonomy arrangements gave way when the Malaysian Army running out of patience, ceased to persistently act as an intermediary in the Moro-Philippines reconciliation talks and initiatives.
The MOROS struggle for independence.
Author: Courtesy Amir Butler – first published 11.11.02,
rewritten by ISCOFIS 5.10.08
Reuters reported on Nov. 11, 2002 that the United States has committed 300 troops to the Philippines early next year, to assist Filipino forces in “anti-terrorism training”.
This follows a 1,000 troop commitment earlier this year, to assist Filipino forces in hunting the Abu Sayyaf gang in the jungles of Basilan and Sulu. Whilst originally a breakaway from Moros (Muslims of Southern Philippines) independence movement, the 800 strong Abu Sayyaf has devolved into a gang of bandits whose primary objective seems to be lining their pockets with the proceeds of kidnapping tourist and missionaries. They are hardly international terrorist.
Yet, like India with its maneuverings against Kashmiri militants or Russia with its war against Chechen separatists, the Philippines President knew which button to press to get US sympathy. She terms her opponents “terrorist”, and linked them to Ben Laden. This was based only on a 1995 meeting with Ben Laden’s brother-in-law, Muhammad Jamal Khalifah and some contacts with Ramzi Yusuf, the 1993 world trade center bomber.
So, once again, the West entered into a conflict in a region whose complexities most of the ‘world” know little about. As this article is rewritten the Philippine forces is tightening their grip in that region with more military operations.
Let it be known that the struggle of the Moro people for freedom and self determination is one of the longest in the world, if not the longest struggles in the history of mankind. Their struggle began with the “discovery” of the Philippines by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, who claim the Island for Spain. The Moros rejected his claim and Lapu-Lapu , a Moro Muslim leader, subsequently killed him. From that day on, the Moros were in a fight for their independence and freedom.
The Spanish differentiated the two natives of the archipelago into pagan Malays (Indios) and Muslims Malays (named Moros after the Spanish Moors). Their policy was simply to convert the Indios to Christianity and kill the Moros. The Military resistance against the Spanish lasted over 350 years, until the Spanish were defeated by the Americans in the 1898 Spanish-American war. Despite the fact that the Spanish had never colonized the Morolands, Spain included Mindanao in the treaty of Paris, which transferred sovereignty to the United States.
The US then attempted to subdue and disarm the Moros. Such was the resistance, that the US Army ordered the upgrade of the standard issue Colt .38 – caliber pistol the more powerful Colt .45 – caliber in order to stop the knife wielding Moros. Their frenetic and oft suicidal style of fighting gave the world the expression “running amok”. The colonial administration then began passing laws that would quell Moro aspirations of independence by migrating large numbers of Christian Indios to the region.
In 1903, all Moro land holdings were declared null and void and made open to land grabbing. In 1913, Law was passed allowing Christians to own up to 16 hectares, whereas a Muslim could only own 8. In 1919, Christian land entitlement was generously extended to 24 hectares.
When independence from the US was imminent, the Moro leadership pled not to be included in the new “Independent Philippines”. Yet, on July 4, 1946, when independence was proclaimed, the Morolands were incorporated against their wishes, as they had been with the handover from Spain to the US.
The pattern of migrating Christians to Moro lands continued. In 1950’s, Northern peasants formed the New People’s Army and staged a Maoist rebellion. In order to defuse the situation, the Philippine government, under the auspices of the Economic Development Corp (EDCOR) began migrating these peasants to the Moro South and giving them seized parcels of Moro land.
In 1968, anger at Manila reached a new level, when the US-backed Ferdinand Marcos executed nearly 70 Muslims commando recruits to keep secret an aborted plan to invade Sabah, in Malaysia Borneo. When Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, the Moros went to war after a quarter of a century of relative dormancy. Shortly afterwards, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was formed, which called for an independent Moro state - Bangsamoro. They fought the US-armed and backed Manila regime for more than thirty-years now, leaving at least 100,000 Moros dead and 250,000 driven from their homes. In 1996, the MINF signed a peace with the Philippines government.
In a war that has been criticized for its double standards, this latest US and Philippines regime military adventures will do little to change perceptions.
America is helping to fight the 800 strong Abu Sayyaf, whilst overlooking the New People’s Army, (NPA) who represent a force of 12,000 fighters. They have been staging a communist insurgency in the North for more than 30 years and have killed over 40,000 people so far, including an American Hiker and his German companion.
The problems in the Morolands have little to do with international terrorism but have everything to do with centuries old repression of a people desire for freedom. The solution to the Moro problem is the same as the solution to the East Timor problem. So is the solution to the problem of Malay-Muslims in Southern Thailand, Muslim majority Kashmir, Muslim majority Chechen and Muslim majority Afghanistan or even Somalia and Iraq for that matter. There must be a referendum under UN supervision similar to the one conducted in the former Portuguese colony.
More so for the Moros, after struggling continuously more than 450 years for freedom and independence, the Moros do not need “operation enduring freedom”, they just need freedom.
The MOROS struggle for independence.
Author: Courtesy Amir Butler – first published 11.11.02,
rewritten by ISCOFIS 5.10.08
Reuters reported on Nov. 11, 2002 that the United States has committed 300 troops to the Philippines early next year, to assist Filipino forces in “anti-terrorism training”.
This follows a 1,000 troop commitment earlier this year, to assist Filipino forces in hunting the Abu Sayyaf gang in the jungles of Basilan and Sulu. Whilst originally a breakaway from Moros (Muslims of Southern Philippines) independence movement, the 800 strong Abu Sayyaf has devolved into a gang of bandits whose primary objective seems to be lining their pockets with the proceeds of kidnapping tourist and missionaries. They are hardly international terrorist.
Yet, like India with its maneuverings against Kashmiri militants or Russia with its war against Chechen separatists, the Philippines President knew which button to press to get US sympathy. She terms her opponents “terrorist”, and linked them to Ben Laden. This was based only on a 1995 meeting with Ben Laden’s brother-in-law, Muhammad Jamal Khalifah and some contacts with Ramzi Yusuf, the 1993 world trade center bomber.
So, once again, the West entered into a conflict in a region whose complexities most of the ‘world” know little about. As this article is rewritten the Philippine forces is tightening their grip in that region with more military operations.
Let it be known that the struggle of the Moro people for freedom and self determination is one of the longest in the world, if not the longest struggles in the history of mankind. Their struggle began with the “discovery” of the Philippines by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, who claim the Island for Spain. The Moros rejected his claim and Lapu-Lapu , a Moro Muslim leader, subsequently killed him. From that day on, the Moros were in a fight for their independence and freedom.
The Spanish differentiated the two natives of the archipelago into pagan Malays (Indios) and Muslims Malays (named Moros after the Spanish Moors). Their policy was simply to convert the Indios to Christianity and kill the Moros. The Military resistance against the Spanish lasted over 350 years, until the Spanish were defeated by the Americans in the 1898 Spanish-American war. Despite the fact that the Spanish had never colonized the Morolands, Spain included Mindanao in the treaty of Paris, which transferred sovereignty to the United States.
The US then attempted to subdue and disarm the Moros. Such was the resistance, that the US Army ordered the upgrade of the standard issue Colt .38 – caliber pistol the more powerful Colt .45 – caliber in order to stop the knife wielding Moros. Their frenetic and oft suicidal style of fighting gave the world the expression “running amok”. The colonial administration then began passing laws that would quell Moro aspirations of independence by migrating large numbers of Christian Indios to the region.
In 1903, all Moro land holdings were declared null and void and made open to land grabbing. In 1913, Law was passed allowing Christians to own up to 16 hectares, whereas a Muslim could only own 8. In 1919, Christian land entitlement was generously extended to 24 hectares.
When independence from the US was imminent, the Moro leadership pled not to be included in the new “Independent Philippines”. Yet, on July 4, 1946, when independence was proclaimed, the Morolands were incorporated against their wishes, as they had been with the handover from Spain to the US.
The pattern of migrating Christians to Moro lands continued. In 1950’s, Northern peasants formed the New People’s Army and staged a Maoist rebellion. In order to defuse the situation, the Philippine government, under the auspices of the Economic Development Corp (EDCOR) began migrating these peasants to the Moro South and giving them seized parcels of Moro land.
In 1968, anger at Manila reached a new level, when the US-backed Ferdinand Marcos executed nearly 70 Muslims commando recruits to keep secret an aborted plan to invade Sabah, in Malaysia Borneo. When Marcos declared martial law on September 21, 1972, the Moros went to war after a quarter of a century of relative dormancy. Shortly afterwards, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was formed, which called for an independent Moro state - Bangsamoro. They fought the US-armed and backed Manila regime for more than thirty-years now, leaving at least 100,000 Moros dead and 250,000 driven from their homes. In 1996, the MINF signed a peace with the Philippines government.
In a war that has been criticized for its double standards, this latest US and Philippines regime military adventures will do little to change perceptions.
America is helping to fight the 800 strong Abu Sayyaf, whilst overlooking the New People’s Army, (NPA) who represent a force of 12,000 fighters. They have been staging a communist insurgency in the North for more than 30 years and have killed over 40,000 people so far, including an American Hiker and his German companion.
The problems in the Morolands have little to do with international terrorism but have everything to do with centuries old repression of a people desire for freedom. The solution to the Moro problem is the same as the solution to the East Timor problem. So is the solution to the problem of Malay-Muslims in Southern Thailand, Muslim majority Kashmir, Muslim majority Chechen and Muslim majority Afghanistan or even Somalia and Iraq for that matter. There must be a referendum under UN supervision similar to the one conducted in the former Portuguese colony.
More so for the Moros, after struggling continuously more than 450 years for freedom and independence, the Moros do not need “operation enduring freedom”, they just need freedom.
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