OPINION
DURIAN
text AMINA RASUL, Former Presidential Adviser on Youth Affairs

On radicalization

MANY durian addicts sent text messages about my first column. “The bulldozer process will kill the last vestige of democracy in Muslim Mindanao,” said one. “The proposed Cha-cha will lead only to further radicalization of Muslims,” said another.

What is the connection? Simply put, democracy dies when da pipol are silenced. When the people are gagged, their anger and frustration find release in an eruption made all the more violent by poverty and oppression. The lucky ones become OFWs to escape the cage that is the Philippines. They speak with their feet. Those who cannot escape tighten their belts, joke about the situation and join rallies. They speak with their clenched fists and red banners. Those who have been pressed to the wall turn to insurgency. They speak with gunfire. Thus we are radicalized.

In the case of the Muslim communities, the majority aspire to live as God-fearing ummah, the community of believers. Centuries of colonization have forced the Muslims in the Philippines to fight, defending their right to live as Muslims. The sovereign Muslim sultanates did not accept the American “gift” of independence to the Philippines. Regardless, the United States “force-fitted” communities at war with each other into one republic. Many of our problems as a state can be traced to this historical mistake.

A real participatory Charter change process could have been the key to rectify historical mistakes. As it is, my durian-loving friend is right: this bulldozer of a Cha-cha will radicalize us further.

Islamic insurgency in the Philippines has been a continuation of the Muslims’ struggle against colonial powers: Spain, then the US, and lastly the Philippine government itself. Islam arrived in the southern Philippines in the 14th century. When Spain arrived in 1521, Islam was entrenched wherever the Spaniards sailed—from Manila to Pangasinan to Cebu to Min­danao. These Islamic communities had their own government patterned after the sultanate system and sovereignty. The Filipinos won their fight for independence on June 12, 1898. The proud Spanish government chose to surrender to another colonial power, ceding the Philippines to the US under the Treaty of Paris (1898). Filipinos waged armed resistance from 1899 to 1902, finally accepting governance by the US after the failure of the insurrection. The Muslim sultanates, however, entered into treaties with the US government (which recognized their sovereignty).

On July 4, 1946, the US government granted independence to the Philippines and included the Muslim sultanates. The Muslim chieftains protested against becoming a part of the Philippines, citing their independence and sovereignty. The Muslim rebellion continued even after the proclamation of Philippine independence.

Muslim insurgency groups therefore view their struggle for secession as a continuation of the fight for independence. This aspiration reverberates in Muslim Mindanao to this day.

The Catholic-majority and the central government have assumed that the Muslims of the Philippines are an integral part of the nation. True? In their hearts and minds, the Tausug, Yakan, Maranao, Sama, Maguindanao, Iranun of Mindanao have always felt a nation apart. This feeling is reinforced by the fact that the military—whose role is to defend the State against external threats—is the primary arm used by central government to quell hostilities in the South. Why are the local police and civilian authorities not at the helm of the strategy to establish peace and rule of law in conflict-ridden Mindanao?

Are the locals not trusted by the central government? Is this an indication that the local leaders—being Tausug, Yakan, Maranao, Sama, Maguindanao, Iranun—are considered to be outsiders, even if they belong to the same party as the ruling power?

Look at the Lakas CMD. Do Lakas Muslim leaders truly have a say in party matters? Alternatively, are they mere exotic accessories? To be fair, the Lakas under former President Ramos gave Muslim leaders a role in shaping party policy. They were consulted on matters affecting their constituents. For instance, the choice of ARMM regional candidates was the domain of the Muslim Lakas leaders, headed by then-Lakas Sen. Santanina Rasul. FVR and his political advisers accepted the choices.

Today, the original Lakas members who supported FVR must be mourning the passing of the dream of Christian-Muslim democrats, marked by the recent Lakas assembly. An assembly that turned on its founder. To which we say, “Et tu, Manong Joe?” -- (The silent majority)