National Holiday: Ramadan
Today’s a national holiday in observance of the last day of the Ramadan. Though I’m not a Muslim nor is the Philippines a Muslim nation, this holiday is but one of our government’s feeble attempts to gain popularity with the Muslim parts of this country… mainly in the southernmost part of Mindanao.
From what I remember from my history classes (which, by the way, was a loooooong time ago), the MILF (Moro-Islamic Liberation Front) is a Muslim separatist rebel group that branched out from the MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front).
An incident in 1968 wherein they claimed that the AFP – Armed Forces of the Philippines – has killed at least 288 Moro recruits was the reason why they formed their group in the first place. The incident is called: The Corregidor Massacre.
It is said that the then president, Ferdinand Marcos, ordered the military to create special units composed mainly of Moros to attack Sabah’s non-Malay ethnic groups, the Tausug and Sama, (Sabah is now part of Malaysia but was part of a land dispute with the Philippines way back in the early 60′s) because I think he wanted to claim that area back. Malaysia included Sabah in their federation in 1963 and that was when the Philippines severed all diplomatic relations with them.
When the Moro recruits found out the true agenda of their mission, which was to wage war against the Tausug and Sama of Sabah, they went into mutiny since these people who were closely related to them and their culture. In a sense, they were family. They were executed by the dozens. A lone survivor, Jibin Arula, recounted the things he had witnessed.
It was after that incident that the MNLF was formed. Since then, they have fought for independence from the Philippines or at least to become an autonomous region because they felt that their rights as citizens were violated and didn’t get the same support as the rest of the country. Until 1987, when they accepted the government’s offer to turn them into a semi-autonomous region.
That’s when the MILF was formed. They disagreed with the MNLF’s move to accept the government’s offer. To this day, they are still fighting for complete independence from the Philippines and have been resorting to terrorizing the Filipino people to get the attention they so desperately seek. No peace in Mindanao yet.
Only 5% of the country is comprised of Muslims. It wasn’t until President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s administration that we, the Catholics, started celebrating this day, The feast of Ramadan, with the Muslims. A feeble attempt to gain popularity among them, yes. A first step in recognizing that we live in a country among them, maybe.
I do hope that they have not forgotten what they are fighting for: the inhumane massacre of those young Moro men not too long ago.
How will they bring them to justice? I really wouldn’t know.
Is separating themselves from the government that ordered their demise the answer?
Is it right to place the blame for one man’s sins on another?
I think both our religions have the same answer to that.
I may not belong in your religious group but I do believe that we have the same blood coursing through our veins and both our religions basically teach the same core values of love and forgiveness.
Happy Ramadan to all of you, brothers and sisters.
