Who's Afraid of Mindanao Independence?

Chapter I

 www.mnlf.net - Welcome to the cyber age! Your timely birth is a significant contribution of the Bangsamoro people of Mindanaw to the cyber global village. Quite expectedly, your 'coming' is awaited by the rest of the Islamic Ummah and the world community for the sake of truth and justice.

 Indeed, who doesn't want to know the truth about the MNLF-launched Bangsamoro people's freedom to regain independence and national self-determination from Philippine colonialism, but from the real actors and genuine players, who have yet to re-write their own authentic colorful history?
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Clearly now, what did the remaining days of year 2001 bring vividly to the consciousness of the Highlander, Christian and Muslim Mindanawans that will again trigger the resumption of a fullscale Filipino-Moro war in the Filipino-occupied region for the coming year of the horse 2002?

 Certainly, it cannot be anyhting else, but a fervent prayer for a lifetime legacy of a peaceful Mindanaw...for now and possibly, forever!

However, is conflict-free Mindanaw possible under the present circumstances? Or is Mindanaw condemned forever to more wars and hostilities between the ethnic nationalities and their colonial Filipino oppressers?

 Since time immemorial, the historical past of Mindanaw had always been embedded in tragic wars. Clearly, the saddest tragedy had always been an imposed one. The series of tragic strife were never the making or initiative of the native inhabitants - the warrior Moros and the other gallant ethnic communities - but brought upon their doorsteps by the western pirates, who crossed the thousand-mile sea journey to bring chaos and turmoil into the Mindanaw heartland to satisfy their megalomanic lust for economic and political greed.

 Thus, the more than three centuries Spanish-Moro wars, and the almost half century American-Moro war in Mindanaw only proved that the western piratical invaders were mighty proud to promote the 'law of the jungle:' That 'might is right!' But isn't this the doctrine of the barbarians and the savages?

 Indeed, equip with superior 'weapons of mass destruction,' the Spanish and American marauders tried using their might to bully the Mindanaw natives into surrender and submission to attain one sublime goal - to land-grab the indigenous lands and to plunder the inherent mineral and aquatic riches of the ethnic nationalities of Moroland.

 Yet, the piratical western powers never did permanently suceed because the native Mindanawans fought back and hard merely exposing them for what they really were - subhuman plunderers and scavengers, who savagely brought upon Mindanaw the continued plague of war of genocide and extermination up to the present era.

 Compounding the ugliness of the whole piratical episode, both the Spanish and American invaders camouflaged their satanic crusade based on the following flimsy ethnocentric grounds: "(a) 'civilizing the savages,' (b) 'christianizing the native believers from  their untrue religion,' and (c) 'teaching the unlearned natives with rudiments of democracy and the sublime 'benevolent assimilation'."

 Without shame and concern for the fundamental human rights, religion, culture and historical heritage of the Mindanaw indigenous communities, the oppressive western pirates established a war power base of destruction in Manila to invade the peaceful communities of the Mindanaw natives. Without pity and conscience, they utilized to the fullest extent the Indio-turned-Filipino colonial slaves from Luzon and Visayas in their repeated bloody invasion of Mindanaw to accomplish the above-mentioned ugly goals.

 Thus, how successful were the Spanish and American invaders to hoodwink the native Mindanawans in land-grabbing their precious ethnic lands?

 As may be viewed now in modern history, the piratical Spanish and American expeditions have only brought continued war of devastation in Mindanaw. Worst, the western conspirators of the fraudulent so-called Treaty of Paris of December 10, 1898 had deliberatedly contributed to Mindanaw becoming a milking colony to the Christian Filipino inheritors of the evilish Spanish and American colonial conquest.

 Hence, the defensive war for Mindanao independence has had to be fought time and again by the Bangsamoro people against the new Asian homegrown colonizers. Historically, similar to the tyranically oppressive Japanese invaders in the early 1940s.

 The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) started actively the liberation struggle in the late 1960s. However, this was cut short to accepting 'autonomy under the sovereignty and integrity of the Philippine Republic' through the strong pressure by the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

 Eventually, the MNLF and the Philippine government with the active participation of then OIC Ministerial Committee of Six, composing of Indonesia, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Senegal and Somalia, had forged the Peace Agreement of September 2, 1996. But still the autonomy formula for fourteen (14) provinces and ten (10) cities in war-torn Mindanao has to take off the ground.

 Unfortunately, the time framework alloted to its implementation has passed the deadline. The MNLF has accused the Philippine government of mistrust, violating the letter and spirit of the September 2, 1996 Jakarta Peace Agreements.

 On the other hand, the MNLF-splintered groups, particularly Moro National Liberation Front (MILF) and student movement element, Harakat-ul-Islami (HI), that the AFP intelligence turned to 'Abu Sayyaf' (according to Senator Aquilino Pimentel, Jr.), continued to wage a defensive war for freedom and independence even only for an 'independent Islamic State.'

 Apparently, the active MILF and HI freedom fighters were inspired by the unfolding event in East Timor whose people voted in a referendum for total independence from Indonesian colonial hegemony.

 Lending support to the ground revolutionary militant groupings, Bangsamoro masses by tens of thousands staged public demonstrations and rallies in Davao City and Marawi City, demanding for the complete independence of Mindanaw. This milestone event happened on the same day the MILF and the Philippine Arroyo government started their peace talks sometime November, 1999.

 In truth, similar to Kazakstan, Bosnia, India, Pakistan and East Timor, Mindanaw was always a free nation until the western piratical war-mongers preyed upon its tranquility. And gradually, the same western aggressive powers dumped Mindanaw into its present lowly colonial state. Tragically, under a more oppressive and barbaric colonizers that the Christian patriotic Mindanawan freedom fighter, MIM Chairman Reuben R. Canoy, identified as 'worst colonizer' than the Spanish and American invaders.

 Today, the idea of Mindanao independence is only bidding it time. Similar to East Timor, an independent Mindanao again is the only ideal and logical formula to avert a continued genocidal blood-bath war in the occupied territory that will eventually end with both the oppressed and the oppressors the biggest losers.

 Now, who's afraid of Mindanao independence?

 Are they, the past and present oppressors, who have come to believe that the perpetuation of Philippine colonialism in war-ravaged Mindanao is s shining badge of 'might is right'?

 Be it as it may, it's about time too the present conscious self-redeeming nations - Spain and America - have to apologize to the oppressed people they had wronged and brutalized in the criminal past.arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255)">

 Surely, their barbaric ancestors cannot be far better off than the Japanese tyrants, who had once ephemerically brought terror, chaos and havoc into Mindanaw, Philippines and Korea, but nonetheless develped the courage and heroism today to ask forgiveness in global public.

 True justice dictates no less.

 However, can the proud civilized children of the past foreign buccaneers muster enough heroic sagacity and humility to do this? Or, are they today as their forebears in the past, 'mighty and righteous beholders of injustice'? (for www.mnlf.net - osm/1.1.02)