Mindanao: The New Jerusalem
If anyone
ever said that comparing the Muslims of Mindanao to the Indian tribes of North
America would do the latter an injustice; this would be a grave overstatement
against the honor of Columbus, Vespucci and those who followed them in the
colonization of the New World. The issue common to both peoples is that of displacement. Europeans were mostly the
pioneers of what their various races might have termed as ‘expansion’, and
occupation of an impressive fraction of the world. To say that the efforts and
accomplishments of the Americans’ forefathers were not too prodigious would be
an offense, since they successfully overcame the obduracy of the Sioux,
Comanche, Apache and other factions of red men.
In the
Philippines, the current administration,-as well as those of the earliest period
of the twentieth century-inherited the burden which the Spaniards were
compelled to shoulder concerning the subject of Muslims. This is so due to the
fact that, like the white settlers of the early United States; they have become
intent on pushing indigenous individuals out of locations where they have established
their roots even deeper than those of the most ancient trees standing as
nature’s pillars in the environment.
A general
question that can be raised is: why will the Muslims, as Filipinos, not
downgrade their hostilities and accept their incumbent government’s sovereignty?
Presumably, it is due to the fact that the island does not have a land area
extending as wide as one from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, for fair and
reasonable resettlement. And, consequently, Islamic people have nowhere else,
but the sea, to go to; upon the northerners’ seizure of their ancestral lands
as well as the relocation of other local settlers thereon.
Still,
there may be underlying intentions which could be considered as potential
reasons-(other than the taking of patriarchal territories)-which inspire an
obstinate reactions by Muslim faction; as are perceivable with the current
hostilities they have exhibited until the latest days of January, 2015. As
ordinary citizens not versed with political themes, the masses may deduce the
possible thinking of both sides during negotiations.
Could the
insurgents at Mindanao want more than just retention of their
ancestral soil; it being a fact that their factions thrive on communist
practices?
Is
Malacañang set on feigning peaceful negotiations with the clandestine intent of
gradually obliterating the century-old hindrance to COMPLETE national rule?
It would
be akin to the conflict between crusaders and the warriors of the
Jihad concerning the city of Jerusalem a vast number of centuries past; hiding
behind and using the name of their deities in vain to conceal deeper ambitions.
The mutual
suspicions of either party will surely make the realization of peace and
prosperity a far cry. The present era is no longer the age where indigenous
people can be bought with trinkets, supernaturally-branded figurines, or even
the currency of a foreign country. In addition, the capability of the present
administration is not characteristic of being ‘convincing’ enough to inspire a
facile submission.
Hence, in
the near or distant future; with the coming of more viable leaders from either
movement; perhaps the Philippine flag will retain its third star via Malacañang
Palace’s governance; alter into a crescent by the superiority of Muslim rule;
or disappear completely; if not induce a revolutionary change on the entire ensign.
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