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EDITORIAL
19
January 2012
BANGSAMORO HISTORICAL NOTES
MNLF
REVITALIZATION: FROM ORIGINAL
TO UPDATE VISION
Revisiting The Original Vision
It is now written in global
history that the original vision of the founding leaders of
the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) is to regain the
complete freedom of the oppressed Bangsamoro people of
Mindanao from Philippine colonialism through defensive armed
struggle. Since the first dawn of the conception of the Moro
National Liberation Front in the late 1960s as triggered and
inspired by the heinous Jabidah Massacre of March 18, 1968,
the founding MNLF Chairman Prof. Nur Misuari and the first
90 batch Moro trainees consequently always repeatedly
proclaimed their solemn pledge right in the huge Matalam
rock inside their training camp. In unison, they always
pledged passionately and loudly the liberating words of
martyrdom: "In the name of Allah, in the name of our
oppressed people and in the name of our homeland! Victory or
to the Graveyard!
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Indeed, the intensity of the cold-blooded
massacre in Corigidor Island of around sixty
eight (68) recruited Muslim trainees from
Sulu and Tawi-Tawi by the Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP) officers as sanctioned
by the Marcos regime alarmed and radicalized
the Bangsamoro people. This was compounded
by the succeeding genocidal extermination
depredations against the Muslims by the AFP
and its armed para-military troops in other
areas in mainland Mindanao, particularly in
Cotabato, Lanao, Zamboanga and Bukidnon,
resulting in massive dislocation and wanton
land-grabbing of the lands of the Muslims by
the Christian settlers supported by the
Manila government. Thus, experiencing the
destructive colonization campaigns of the
Philippine government from the Quezon regime
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to the Marcos
Dictatorship, this left the agonized Bangsamoro people no
alternative, but to wage a defensive war for survival and
freedom against Philippine colonialism.
Clearly from
inception, the liberation struggle launched by the MNLF was
anchored on the total liberty and emancipation of the Bangsamoro
homeland, people and preservation of Islam from the ugly
clutches of the Manila government that is only bent on
preserving Philippine colonialism in Mindanao through ethnic
cleansing of the indigenous natives of Mindanao . From the
beginning, the MNLF leadership always believed that colonization
is synonymous to christianization or filipinization that the
Manila government want to forcibly imposed on the Muslim and
Hghlander natives of the Bangsamoro homeland of Mindanao, Sulu
and Palawan (MINSUPALA). Confronting the evil design of
Philippine colonialism, the Bangsamoro freedom fighters and mass
supporters exerted utmost sacrifice and perseverance to combat
the colonial Filipino occupation forces in Mindanao. The
atrocities committed against them by Christian Filipino
terrorists and land-grabbers in their ancestral homeland and
their desperate, but heroic stand against all odds in Mindanao
attracted the attention of the peaceful community of nations,
especially the Muslim countries. At this crucial juncture in
history, the Marcos regime designed to splinter the MNLF
leadership that included maneuvering the Organization of Islamic
Conference (OIC) to mediate in searching for a peaceful
settlement to the Filipino-Moro war that already registered more
than one hundred thousand precious lives and countless material
losses on the part alone of the victims of Philippine
colonialism.
On this historical
note, the Manila government engaged the MNLF in series of peace
negotiations coupled with the classical strategy to
divide-conquer-rule and to hoodwink the MNLF Mujahidin to fall
for the colonial entrapment of cooptation and accommodation.
Accepting the call for peace with OIC blessing, the MNLF forged
three agreements with Philippine colonialism, specifically the
1976 Tripoli Agreement, 1987 Jeddah Accord and 1996 Jakarta
Peace Agreements, ranging from President Ferdinand E. Marcos,
President Corazon C. Aquino and President Fidel V. Ramos.
Nonetheless, the three peace agreements between the Philippine
government and Moro National Liberation Front participated
actively by the Organization of Islamic Conference never
succeeded to bring closure to the nagging Filipino-Moro war in
Mindanao. The strategic ceasefire moratorium only succeeded to
divide the MNLF into several fragments, showcasing the fact that
Philippine colonialism never meant to put in place the correct
implementation of the internationally recognized peace
agreements. But only to buy time to mobilize more military
forces in war-ravaged Mindanao, to procure more armaments for
the AFP and to further cause the disunity of the colonized
Bangsamoro people.
Updating Vision of Peace
Conscious now of
the malevolent colonial strategy of the Philippine government,
MNLF Chairman Nur Misuari, after being imprisoned for more than
five years by Philippine colonialism in conspiracy with the
Malaysian Mahathir regime, has now envisioned to strengthen the
initiative of the MNLF to guarantee just and lasting peace in
the Bangsamoro homeland by pursuing the freedom struggle through
peaceful means. Although accepting once the autonomy alternative
by serving as unopposed elected Governor of the Philippine
Congress-crafted Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
after the signing of the September 2, 1996 MNLF-OIC-GRP Peace
Agreement in Malacanang Palace, he personally found out to his
dismay the miserable failure of autonomy to solve the
decades-long Philippines-Bangsamoro war. Thus, without finishing
his tenure ARMM governorship, he abandoned the cosmetic
political position to report directly to the OIC Jeddah
Headquarters. But on his usual route journey to the Holy Land,
he was blocked by the Mahathir regime and instead turned over to
Philippine colonialism to be criminally charged for rebellion
without any proven legal basis after having been tried by the
court of justice.
Updating now his
vision to revitalize the MNLF as a potent force to achieve a
peaceful Mindanao and to harmonize the unity of the Muslim and
Highlander natives as well as Christian settlers of the war-torn
region, Chairman Nur Misuari has always clarified and maintained
that: "In the interest of peace and development in Mindanao and
its component islands of Palawan, Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan and
Camiguin, I call on all government, military and civilian
authorities to faithfully respect and upheld the GRP-OIC-MNLF
Peace Agreements in letter and spirit. These peace agreements
are of supreme importance to our people and future. Let no one,
therefore, denigrate the sublime memory and sacrifice of those
valiant men and women, Mujahidin and Mujahidat alike, who have
perished in pursuit of peace, justice and freedom as a key to
social harmony and sustainable economic development for all of
us and posterity."
In pursuit of
uniting the Bangsamoro people, he has embarked on unifying the
MNLF with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) under
Chairman Hj. Murad Ebrahim following the tacit approval of the
OIC. The MNLF Chairman also personally conducted one-on-one
dialogue with Chairman Ustaj Amiril Umbra Kato of the Bangsamoro
Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM), which is now in the forefront
of the sacred struggle to establish an independent Islamic State
for the Muslims of Mindanao.
Furthermore, in
his quest to bring the loud call and sincere message of peace to
the Highlanders and Christians of Mindanao, Chairman Misuari has
repeatedly held 'peace summits' in Christian areas, particularly
Davao and Zamboanga, underscoring the importance of a
comprehensive peaceful settlement to the Filipino-Moro war for
the sake of harmony, peaceful co-existence and brighter future
for the pluralistic people of the region.
Moreover, keeping
at heart his last meeting with the martyred MILF Chairman Al-Ustaj
Salamat Hashim (Allah'yarham), the MNLF Chairman has not lost
track of the deep wisdom of a true Mujahid, who has remained
steadfast to the original sacred cause of the MNLF of regaining
national self-determination and independence for the Bangsamoro
people of Mindanao under Philippine colonialism. Until today,
Chairman Misuari is guided by the words of the legendary
Bangsamoro national hero, who once said: "The MILF leadership is
confident Brother Nur Misuari of the MNLF cannot afford to
betray the Bangsamoro people and Cause. We have high regards on
him and we presume he and the MNLF leadership are well aware
that unless a meaningful self-determination for the Bangsamoro
people is in place, the problem will persist from generation to
generation."
In the final
analysis, as the known patriarch of the freedom struggle for
justice, peace and development of the Bangsamoro people and
ancestral homeland, the MNLF Chairman cannot afford to fail in
helping to achieve a peaceful Mindanao for the benefit of all
generations to come. -osm, mnlfnet.com
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