Uprooting the Causes of the Mindanao Conflict
Prior to the conquest of the Spaniard colonizers in the 15th century, Muslims and Indigenous Peoples have already been occupying Mindanao, the 2nd biggest island in the Philippines, oozing then with ecological resources which were endemic in a tropical country. These brave indigenous occupants were then culturally and spiritually advanced, developing the wonderful blessed island following nature’s and sustenance economy, treating nature like a home where there basic needs are provided for. Thus, when the CONQUESTADORES came, they did frontline a strong force, the reason why the beautiful island of Mindanao was not fully and totally dominated by the colonizers. Never would the Muslims be under the reign of an imperial power, be Spaniards or Americans as these brave Mindanawons were even willing to courageously dare suicidal attacks, the reason why the Americans invented the .45 caliber weapon as a suicidal attacker could kill five American soldiers before he could be stopped by using only .38 caliber.
Thus, when the colonizers finally left, neo-colonizers came, the multi-national corporations, the oligarchs and powerful elites who have been exploiting the wonderful blessed island through extractive economy. After toppling down the millions of hectares of dipterocarp forest and ransacking the 72 kinds of minerals beneath the ground, the millions of hectares of the choicest of land have been transformed into massive plantations that have sacrificed the people and nature to the altar of greed and profit. Worse, such development paradigm of the new “conquestadores” has continuously eliminated our agricultural land, the reason why we have lost our food security and ecological integrity resulting to massive poverty, gross inequities, social Injustices and political patronage. These are now the root causes of the Mindanao conflict that must be uprooted not through bloodshed but by the strength of the human spirit by harnessing the collective power of the people through cooperativism.
Such was the roadmap followed by PresBBM when he was still a Senator who trailblazed to increase the budget of the Cooperative Development Authority then when yours truly was Under-Secretary/Chairman of CDA. Such happened upon knowing that thousands of former MILF/MNLF combatants were organized into cooperatives who must be liberated from poverty and be drawn into the mainstream of development processes through cooperativism. The former combatants were so amazed and in one voice, shouted their gratitude in a Cooperative Summit in Marawi then, “ALLAH-U-AKBAR – MGA PAGARI AKON, SAMA-SAMA NA TANU KOOPERATIBA. ISA LANG ANG ARMAS NATIN NGAYON – PAGKAKAISA SA KOOPERATIBA!
Indeed, the only way to have peace in Mindanao is by debunking the root causes of war not through bloodshed but by the strength of the human spirit through cooperation, love and service to one another irrespective of creed, class, gender, ideology and color. No less than His Holiness Pope Francis in his speech in Malacanang a decade or so ago, gave a categorical statement on the imperative need to debunk social disparities and injustices that are putting the country in disarray. He said, “It bids us all to break the bonds of social injustice and oppression that give rise to glaring ad scandalous social inequities.”
Breaking these bonds of social injustice and oppression through a war that has been going on for decades is never the solution; on the contrary, it has even worsened the economic condition of the inhabitants in this beautiful but broken island of Mindanao as hundreds of thousands of our Indigenous Peoples have been displaced and impoverished as their ancestral domains have been land-land-grabbed in the guise of militarization but actually for plantation through corporate globalization. How do we then break this “bonds of social injustice and oppression”?
It is the contention of social scientists and development experts that social injustice that consign the people in the quagmire of poverty is rooted in the powerlessness of the disempowered people and as a countervailing measure, the people must be empowered to have access and control over their resources and utilities. But people empowerment is easier said than done. Empowering the marginalized sectors calls for harnessing their collective power, pooling whatever meager resources they have and enhancing their collective consciousness. It has dawned upon them a social realization that it is only through their oneness and vigilance that critical issues can be resolved. Yes, social transformation can only be had if they put the future into their own hands to craft their own destiny. No Ceazar. No Politician. No leader coming as a savior like a knight in a shining armor transform for them a highly skewed pyramidal societal and economic order. These “leaders” cannot carry their cause; worse, these politicians have become beholden to big businesses which have financed their candidacy in a country whose candidates seeking local or national positions cannot win if they have no money. Today, the awakening process has begun. Enough is enough.
We ardently pray that the Church that His Holiness is leading be vigilant enough and be up to the task of breaking those bonds that have dehumanized our people so that we can regain back human dignity of our oppressed but struggling people. They should not be dehumanized because they too were created in the image and likeness of God. TAO PO SILA HINDI BASURA! It is only then that we can stop the second longest war in the world – the Mindanao War.
