YMPN Statement in Basilan

Ten years ago, on 21 July 1997, the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed an Agreement for General Cessation of Hostilities in Cagayan de Oro City. We welcome such moved with great enthusiasm, optimism and hope that finally the young republic of the Philippines and the Bangsamoro people will have a respite from incessant war and never ending distribution of relief operation to war refugees, payment of pensions to the families of dead soldiers, and begging for post war development fund here and abroad.

But we viewed said agreement as nothing but grand height of hypocrisy because nothing was achieved but a sporadic wars, hide and seek, talks impasse to the detriment of the innocent people.

We could not forget that in 11 February 2003 the people of Pikit failed to perform their Eid’l Adha prayer due to the uncalled for bombings of Buliok in Raja Muda. The pre-election war in Jolo last May this year, where people were displaced and failed to exercise their suffrage was just another manifestation of insanity, wastage of money and insatiable desire to kill and waste monies for war.

The Bangsamoro people have yet to recover from war shocked, their dead have yet to decompose and here we are again in the hysteria of another unfathomable war simply because one priest “Father Bossi” disappeared and so again we are perceived as the culprit and so therefore, we deserved punishment thus, on 10 July 2007 an intensive military operations in Basilan of all the place was held, heavy firefight ensued which resulted to untold damages and lost of lives..

Innocent lives was emaciated, 14 soldier killed 10 of them were inhumanely mutilated again said barbaric crime was attributed to the Moros, I said Moros because whether or not we are members of the MILF, MNLF or Abu Sayaff that is immaterial. Father Bossi appeared alive, emerged not from Basilan but in Lanao, and I must say survived another charade? But, many people were dead in search for this one man of God.

Filipinos and Moros, my question today is that can we not live in peace together under one country of two nations? Can we really not stand together and rebuild our God forsaken country so that we can arrest the never-ending diasporas of Moro and Filipino workers abroad? When do we cease to experience war and hostilities? When do we see skycrappers and not gunners in Basilan, Jolo, Maguindanao and Lanao.

Brothers and sisters in humanity let us band together and rebuild our depressed and impoverished country; thus we call on all armed group be they in military [AFP], MILF, MNLF, Abu Sayyaf and NPA to lay down their arms, and stretch our arms in friendship and brotherhood as one family under one country.

The war in Basilan must be stopped right now and let the people return to their communities so that they can rebuild their lives. No more pointing of blame as to who poked and shot the gun first, because all of you in the armed group soldiers and rebels are guilty of the crime against humanity, you disturbed our peace and tranquility and so therefore all of you must be brought to the rule of law and justice.

Our women, children and old folks are hurting and our country is sliding into the abyss of poverty. We cannot afford to see our neighboring ASEAN countries to move forward while we Moros and Filipinos lagged behind.

We demand that President GMA prioritize the resettlement of forestalled peace talks between the government and all rebel groups, and those responsible for the kidnapping of Father Bossi must be investigated and put behind bars.Tthe Basilan war must STOP now!

Baibonn Sangid
Chairperson, Young Moro Professionals Network, Inc. (YMPN)
http://www.bangsamoro.com

July 30th, 2007

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20 Comments Add your own

  • 1. mindanaokini  |  July 30th, 2007 at 10:08 pm

    Basilan is a wonderful place that had much to adore with…hope to see sooner salam (peace) will work among people in Basilan

  • 2. tomas dela cruz  |  August 16th, 2007 at 4:11 am

    There will be no way for our country to improve until all the muslims who have taken arms surrender their firearms and join the likes of ordinary citizens like us…Kaya hindi umaasenso pilipinas dahil ang karamihan ng mga grupo na yan ang nagbibigay ng problema sa south…Kaya wala masyadong investors ang maka-invest dahil sa takot sa kanila..The philippines is one country with one government..Kaya nakakatawa na kelangan pang makipag-coordinate sa MILF para makapunta sa isang lugar..There should be no MILF area. If they consider themselves to be filipinos, they should abide with the laws of the land and recognize na meron na tayong elected president at may gobyerno tayong kinikilala..

  • 3. wyzemoro  |  August 16th, 2007 at 6:06 am

    No! We don’t consider ourself as Filipinos. Do you know the history of the Bangsamoro? the root of Mindanao conflict?

    The problem is MILF doesnt recognize the Philippine constitution thats why theres a MILF area. The Moros wont surrender the arms because the AFP is treacherous. We need arms to defend

  • 4. tomas dela cruz  |  August 17th, 2007 at 5:15 am

    Then…..How do you think can we have peace in our country? When the root of this is that you cannot accept that sulu,mindanao, etc..Is and will always ba a part of the Philippines…AFP treachourous?The only treachery I see is when bombs are detonated and killing innocent civilians, soldiers being ambushed because they didn’t get to coordinate with said group, filipino soldiers who I believe were doing their job in searching for a kidnapped priest, who I think shouldn’t have been kidnapped in the first place.. Enlighten me brother or sister…How can there be peace when these groups won’t lay down their arms…You can’t expect soldiers to lay down their arms…They’re soldiers of our country…These are one of the groups of people who are allowed to have arms coz it’s their job to protect our country from all threats, be it external or internal…They’d be crazy to let down their arms when there are armed groups like the abu sayyaf pointing their guns at them…

  • 5. wyzemoro  |  August 17th, 2007 at 6:37 am

    Its hard to have a good discourse with you when you have no idea whats the Moro are fighting for.

    Well of course the criminals should lay their arms like ASG and kidnappers but not MNLF or MILF which they have strong ideology.

    Please read the articles in this url - http://www.yonip.com/main/articles/archive03.html

    SELF-DETERMINATION AND PEACE IN MINDANAO

    By Abhoud Syed M. Lingga - Institute of Bangsamoro Studies (posted July 12th 2007)

    CONFLICT IN MINDANAO - Root Causes and Status

    Asia DCHS Regional Workshop on “Towards Liberating Democracy: Devolution of Power Matters” (Organized by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and Mahidol University Research Center on Peace Building at Siam City Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand on January 16-17, 2007)

    and many more…. take your time to read so you can be enlighten.

    and also please read this - The Basilan Encounter - http://blog.wyzemoro.com/the-basilan-encounter/

  • 6. wyzemoro  |  August 17th, 2007 at 7:01 am

    Theres more article…

    BASILAN OFFENSIVE: LIMITED POLICE ACTION OR ALL-OUT WAR IN DISGUISE?
    http://mindanao.com/blog/?p=2309

    MNLF - GRP Clash in Sulu
    http://mindanao.com/blog/?p=2299

    Joint Investigation clears MILF of beheadings
    http://mindanao.com/blog/?p=2246

    MILF didn’t beheaded the Marines
    http://mindanao.com/blog/?p=2227

    AFP: Learning from Mistakes?
    http://mindanao.com/blog/?p=2228

    Call for Peace and Restraint - let us not talk of war
    http://mindanao.com/blog/?p=2204

    How do you think can we have peace in our country?
    When the Filipino Gov’t and its people will accept the re-Independence of the Bangsamoro.

    The fight and encounter of Marines and MILF or MNLF are legitimate. There always be casualties. What do you expect in War? only the MILF or MNLF should be casulties? the life of AFP soldiers are more valuable than the life of mujahideen or Moro freedom fighters? Of course AFP should protect the filipinos and the Moro freedom fighters also protect the Moro people.

    Since you brought up the issue of kidnapping priests. Theres link above… hope you can follow the real incident and not the BIAS Filipino media. By the way… the encounter in Basilan where they are looking for Fr.Bossi was not there and Bossi was release in Lanao del Norte way way far from Basilan. And Fr.Bossi just clarify this past days that he was not kidnapped by ASG but just a plain poor fisherman.

  • 7. tomas dela cruz  |  August 17th, 2007 at 8:11 am

    I commend you brad for your patience…I will be reading on the articles you gave…I actually have read most of it…And sadly I think, I hope that I don’t offend you or other muslim brothers..But, because the root of all this is that you do not accept that you are in the Philippines and that you are living in the same country as every other filipino, one country and one nation…I don’t think there will be peace in our country…Your Ideals may be right, but for realities sake is farfetched…Yes, I abhore the cruelties and misjustices that have been inflicted to our Moro brothers, but that still doesn’t give them the right to bear arms themselves…Like I said, our country, the whole of the Philippines, has one government and has lawsfor the whole of the country…Then everybody and I mean everybody living in the country should abide to the laws made for the country which is the Philippines,where you and our moro brothers are living…
    As long as you do not consider yourselves as filipinos and yet living in the Philippines…I don’t see peace coming anytime soon in the horizon….

  • 8. wyzemoro  |  August 17th, 2007 at 10:42 am

    Hi Tomas, yes peace wont come until the Filipinos wont recognize our struggle. I know its sad. But i still believe we can achieve the elusive peace if we do understand each others believes and respect for ones Identity. Why build one nation if they have different ideology and why not instead of two nation that can collaborate peacefully for development.

    The Moro land or the ancestral land of the Bangsamoro was illegally and immorally annexed to the Philippines. This is one of the many reasons why theirs a war. Me myself can’t accept this and let it be just be part of the Philippines. My forefathers and ancestors fought for freedom and independence. I can’t just sacrifice their bloods. And until now some of my relatives are active as Mujahideen or Freedom fighters.

  • 9. tomas dela cruz  |  August 17th, 2007 at 10:43 am

    Ooops! I forgot to comment about poor plain fishermen being Father Bossi’s kidnappers…C’mon brad…If you believe that they were the only ones who masterminded the whole thing, then, I think you’re mistaken…That’ll be like believing in magic…I don’t want to say anything more bout it, but, from what Father Bossi said…Thay were ASG…If they were not dealing with him directly, then the most likely scenario is they were the ones pulling the strings…

  • 10. tomas dela cruz  |  August 17th, 2007 at 10:50 am

    If that’s the case…If I had my way..I’d give in and give your ancestral lands..Which is the right thing to do…But,reality stinks talaga…Kasama na sa pilipinas ang parte ng Basilan, Sulu and the likes…I wish there was some other way….But till then..We’ll just hope that there will be less bloodshed among our countrymen…

  • 11. wyzemoro  |  August 17th, 2007 at 10:50 am

    Father Bossi said its a fisherman …. if you argue its an ASG … its like you are saying that Father Bossi is a Liar.

  • 12. wyzemoro  |  August 17th, 2007 at 10:55 am

    Yes i hope and pray for less bloodshed. Thats why i support the Peace process and Peace Talk between GRP and MILF.

    And also this is the reason why there should be a coordination between the movement and massing of military in MILF areas so to prevent and escalate a war. This coordination is part of the ceasefire agreement between GRP-MILF and both parties signed and should abide/follow to what they signed.

  • 13. tomas dela cruz  |  August 17th, 2007 at 11:06 am

    Wyze..Where did you get the info that it was a fisherman? The only info I can get is that they were muslims…

  • 14. wyzemoro  |  August 17th, 2007 at 11:26 am

    Its in Inquirer.net

    Fishermen, not Abu Sayyaf, seized Bossi — Italian envoy
    http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=82565

  • 15. tomas dela cruz  |  August 18th, 2007 at 2:45 pm

    Like he knows the difference if they’re ASG or not….Good thing they were ex-MILF members…

  • 16. wyzemoro  |  August 19th, 2007 at 10:43 am

    Please dont conclude in haste.

    Bossi says its not ASG nor MILF. He says its Fishermen… and not ex-MILF. It’s only the police who tag its ex-MILF and also ASG who always claim its activities but theres no ASG claim that they are the responsible to the kidnappings of Fr.Bossi.

    why its a good thing? what do you want to conclude?

  • 17. tomas dela cruz  |  August 19th, 2007 at 2:59 pm

    Think of it this way…If they were still active MILF members, do you think there would still be a ceasefire? It’s things or acts like this that tarnish the way we look at muslims….I know it’s harsh to say,but its the truth…Is there no judicial body that go after their own or former members that are brought to justice by your own people? So that future activities like kidnap for ransom and bombings are stopped..So that ordinary citizens like me would understand your idiology and really believe that all you are looking for is to have peace and maybe a separate state..

  • 18. sabiljikiri  |  August 29th, 2007 at 3:00 pm

    This is a great blog wyzemoro.

  • 19. wyzemoro  |  August 29th, 2007 at 10:31 pm

    @ sabiljikiri - Thanks!

  • 20. AFP: Learning from Mistak&hellip  |  October 29th, 2008 at 6:45 pm

    [...] Baibonn Dilangalen Sangid, Chairperson of Young Moro Professionals Network, Inc. (YMPN). This is a YMPN Statement on Basilan Forum at Ateneo Law [...]

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